CENTRAL BANK OF KENYA
Opening Remarks By
PROF. NJUGUNA NDUNG’U
GOVERNOR
REGIONAL CREDIT REPORTING
CONFERENCE
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July 7, 2011

Governor’s Remarks at the Regional Credit Reporting Conference – July 7, 2011
Mr. Joseph Kinyua, Permanent Secretary, Office of the Deputy Prime
Minister and Ministry of Finance;
Hon. Nderitu Murithi, Assistant Minister, Ministry of
Industrialization
Mr. Melchior Wagara, First Deputy Governor, Bank of the Republic of
Burundi;
All East Africa Community Central Banks
Representative of the World Bank Country Director;
Distinguished Guests and Participants;
Ladies and Gentlemen:
I am delighted to be here today to make some brief remarks at this very
auspicious Regional Conference. I am here to welcome the Permanent Secretary,
Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and Ministry of Finance to officially open
this Conference on Credit Information Sharing, but before doing that I wish to
make some few remarks. On behalf of the Central Bank of Kenya which is cohosting this Conference with the Kenya Bankers Association, let me extend a very
warm welcome to all delegates to Kenya. It is my sincere hope that you will enjoy
your stay in Kenya.
I would also like to take this opportunity to thank FLSTAP, FSD Kenya, IFC,
USAID and all other development partners who have given us financial and
technical support towards this Conference. We also appreciate their
contributions towards the development and rollout of credit information sharing
in Kenya.
Ladies and Gentlemen: This Regional Conference is one of a kind for the East
African Community (EAC) and Kenya in particular. It presents an opportunity
for EAC member countries to share their experiences on credit information
sharing as an avenue for up-scaling the efficiency and effectiveness of our credit
markets. It will also present us with an opportunity to acquaint ourselves with
the global best practices on credit information sharing.
Ladies and Gentlemen: The role of credit markets, as a source of financing
investment, in the promotion of economic growth and development is not in
doubt. However, inefficiencies in the credit markets limit the level of their
contribution. It is with this in mind that most EAC countries have embraced

Governor’s Remarks at the Regional Credit Reporting Conference – July 7, 2011
credit information sharing as a means of tackling some of the inefficiencies in
our credit markets. Key among these inefficiencies is the cost imposed by
information asymmetry, which results in an overload of the risk premium and
hence high costs of credit as well as a means of credit rationing.
Since the rollout of Credit Information Sharing (CIS) in Kenya in July 2010, CBK
and KBA have continued to review the mechanism to ensure that the potential
benefits are realized within a reasonable timeframe. I believe that our efforts will
greatly benefit from the global best practices, which are part of the agenda of this
conference. The key concerns of our current CIS mechanism is the need to
expand its scope beyond institutions licensed under the Banking Act as well as
achieving full file reporting by the participating institutions. The global
experiences to be shared in the conference by the facilitators from the World
Bank and South Africa, complemented by our varied regional CIS approaches
will be pivotal in scaling up our credit information sharing mechanisms.
Ladies and Gentlemen: The co-hosting of this conference by CBK and KBA
attests to the new approach in the development of the regional financial markets.
Regulators have realized the mutual benefits that accrue when they partner with
stakeholders. This approach enhances the rates of success of development
initiatives.
To conclude my remarks, Ladies and Gentlemen, let me take this opportunity
to reiterate the commitment of the Central Bank of Kenya towards the successful
integration of the EAC and more so when we building information capital for our
credit markets.
With those few remarks, ladies and gentlemen, it is now my honour and
pleasure to welcome Mr. Joseph Kinyua, Permanent Secretary, Office of the
Deputy Prime Minister and Ministry of Finance to deliver his keynote address
and to officially open this Credit Information Sharing Conference.
Thank you