Financial Integration and Inclusive Development:
A view from the Mediterranean countries
Central banks, financial inclusion and digitization:
Harnessing technology for inclusive growth
Intervention of Mr. Abdellatif Jouahri
Governor of Bank Al-Maghrib
Madrid, December 13, 2019
Governor of the Banco de Espana,
President of the European Institute of the Mediterranean,
Deputy Secretary General of the Union for the Mediterranean,
Dear friends and colleagues
Ladies and Gentlemen,
First of all, I would like to thank the organizers, particularly the Governor of
the Bank of Spain, Mr. Pablo Hernandez de Cos, and the President of the
Executive Committee of the IEMed, Mr. Senén Florensa, for inviting me to
participate in this conference.
Taking part in the Mediterranean meetings organized by the Bank of Spain
has become, for me, a tradition to be preserved, all the more since we are
united by a cooperation agreement. It is also my pleasure to speak alongside
panelists, both colleagues and friends, on a topic of particular interest to us
from each side of the Mediterranean.
Inclusive development issues have been one of the key concerns for
Moroccan public authorities for several years now. With regard to financial
inclusion in particular, which engages us as a central bank, we have, together
with the Ministry of Finance and stakeholders, just finalized and started
implementing a national financial inclusion strategy, whose preparation has
progressed for a few years now.
Thus, in 2013, we set up the Moroccan Foundation for Financial Education,
and introduced, in the 2014 Banking Law, payment institutions with a scope
of activity limited to small-value transactions. As a result, several stakeholders
took various and disparate initiatives, which prompted us to federate them to
develop a National Financial Inclusion Strategy.
To this end, we proceeded from a situation analysis based on objective supply
and demand data, which were collected through field surveys, mainly the
Findex survey conducted by the World Bank in several countries.
The paradoxical finding which emerged is that, based on indicators such as
credit or deposit-to-GDP ratios or the FSAP assessment, Morocco's financial
system proves to be deep if compared internationally, but suffers from
significant inequalities in terms of access. To give you some figures, the share
of adults holding an account is estimated by the Findex survey at 34 percent
at the national level. This proportion ranges from 20 percent in rural areas to
37 percent for urban dwellers, from 17 percent for women to 41 percent for
men and from 16 percent for young people under 25 to 33 percent for those
aged 25 and over.
Based on these data, it became clear that priority should be given to targeting
the most disadvantaged groups in order to reduce the gaps. Besides, as
Fintech was experiencing significant growth and was becoming a promising
lever, the first measure to undertake was to introduce mobile payment,
considering the high mobile phone penetration rate, which reaches 130
percent and allows coverage of almost the whole population.
To this end, we have developed, together with the National
Telecommunications Regulatory Agency, a national low-cost, secure,
interoperable and real-time mobile payment solution. This offer is to be
provided not only by banks and telecom operators, but also by payment
institutions which formed an alternative network, and which we had begun to
license based on strict specifications.
However, the adherence of retail merchants, necessary for a large-scale
deployment of this solution, is still low, as that many of them still operate in
the informal sector. Subsequently, we were prompted to collaborate with the
Ministry of Finance in order to introduce tax incentives in the 2020 Finance
Act. Today, we are rather optimistic. These incentives, combined with
communication and awareness-raising efforts, will hopefully give a new
impetus to this solution and contribute to a greater integration into the formal
economy and to a reduced use of cash.
Mobile payment has undoubtedly been one of the main levers of financial
inclusion in Morocco, but certainly not the only one. We have also strived
towards turning microfinance and micro insurance into channels of inclusion.
To this end, the applicable amending legal texts have been finalized and are in
the process of being approved. At the same time, we continued strengthening
and expanding financial education work, bringing together all national
stakeholders around the Foundation and drawing on international best
practices. More particularly, we worked with the ILO and AFI to develop
educational packages, and organized several instructor-training sessions for
various professional categories.
In this same vein of association and cooperation, we are trying to bring
together all stakeholders to reflect on the methods for implementing the Bali
Fintech Agenda. In this regard, Bank Al-Maghrib co-organized, last March, a
regional conference with the IMF and plans to hold a second one in 2021.
Similarly, our institution held, last November, the Africa Blockchain Summit,
meant to share experiences between African countries, stimulate innovation
and encourage startups. We hope to take advantage of the latter's innovations
for our own benefit and for the benefit of our ecosystem. The selected
startups have indeed come up with promising solutions to strengthen
financial inclusion.
That being said, such digital revolution, as we all know, is not only about
opportunities, but also about risks and challenges, namely in terms of
cybercrime, money laundering and terrorist financing, and personal data
protection, etc. This highlights, once again, the need for appropriate
regulation.
In the banking sector, we, as a central bank, are striving for more agile and
appropriate regulation, while offering support to the new actors and ensuring
their supervision.
With respect to the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing, the
recent MENA-FATF assessment highlighted some shortcomings among
financial inclusion non-bank actors. Hence, a compliance program was set up
by the authorities with the aim of remedying this situation in the medium
term.
As regards personal data protection, Morocco has ratified the 108th
Convention of the Council of Europe and its Additional Protocol. Since then,
it set up a national control unit to ensure proper observation of the various
rights (of information, access, rectification and opposition). In this respect,
the central bank plays an important role as an interface between this unit and
financial inclusion stakeholders. However, this legal framework is likely to
evolve in view of the regulatory progress made in this area, particularly at the
European Union level.
With regard to cyber security risks, Morocco is moving towards developing a
strategy for the security of information systems, which would be based on
risk identification to provide specific legal, technical and awareness-raising
measures to ensure protection, defense and security. This project is
coordinated by the National Defense Administration and the Central Bank
also acts as an interface with financial actors.
All these developments, particularly the introduction of new actors in the
implementation of the national financial inclusion strategy, will have a
significant impact on banks' profitability and will put their traditional business
models to the test. While these banks may be hampered by their complex
architecture and cumbersome organization, the rapid unbundling of banking
services to the benefit of non-banking fintechs could result in a substantial
loss in their market share.
Under these conditions, and taking advantage of technological contributions,
many banks have embarked on strategies to develop their services and to
diversify their distribution channels. In this respect, a study carried out by
Bank Al-Maghrib in 2019 reveals that most banks have concluded contracts
with technology start-ups in the form of equity investments and partnerships.
However, it should be stressed that this problem is not specific to Morocco,
but is more global.
Ultimately, the result is a healthy competition that develops and results in
improved quality of services, faster transaction execution and lower costs, all
to the benefit of the consumer.
To sum up, let me say that Morocco has entered a new era in the field of
financial inclusion. Attaining the objectives set out in this respect requires
effective organization and regular monitoring. As such, Bank Al-Maghrib set
up two new structures, dedicated to financial inclusion and to digital
transformation, with a five-year roadmap which takes into account our needs
both as a company and as a regulator.
I have no doubt that this issue of financial inclusion has challenged each of
our countries represented here, with specific levels of prioritization and
implementation methods. However, regardless of the context, the success of
such a project requires significant resources, not just financial, but also and
primarily human ones.
On the southern side of the Mediterranean, important efforts are being
undertaken in this direction. However, I would like to underline that the
attractiveness exerted by advanced countries on our graduates and our
specialized profiles is making our task even more complex, especially in recent
years. At Bank Al-Maghrib, for example, we lost about 20 computer engineers
in just 18 months. I think that this point also deserves to be discussed and
debated at meetings such as this one.
Thank you!