central bank of kenya afro - asia fintech festival nairobi online city in partnership with the 2020 singapore fintech festival opening remarks by dr. patrick njoroge governor, central bank of kenya december 7, 2020 as prepared for delivery good morning, good afternoon, good evening! it is a great honour for the central bank of kenya ( cbk ) to host the nairobi online city, an iteration of the afro - asia fintech festival ( aaff ) launched in 2019. the aaff nairobi online city is part of the 2020 singapore fintech festival ( sff ). cbk is therefore honoured to join the global community of central banks, governments, financial institutions, fintechs, and other players to deliberate and reflect on the theme of “ people and talent : harnessing collaboration in pursuit of resilience and growth post covid - 19. ’ ’ at the outset, let me express cbk ’ s gratitude to the monetary authority of singapore ( mas ) for allowing cbk and almost 40 other cities to partner in expanding the reach of the virtual 2020 sff. i also appreciate all our partners and service providers who have worked with us to make this event a reality. 2020 has been an exceptional year dominated by the coronavirus ( covid - 19 ) pandemic. our lives and livelihoods have dramatically changed as governments, businesses and citizens globally sought to contain the pandemic. there have been significant adverse health and economic effects that have rolled back global progress in efforts towards the shared prosperity of our citizens. as significant progress begins to be made on the medical front in developing vaccines and therapeutic drugs, the conversation must shift to building back better. while the pandemic has been devastating, it has also accelerated digitalization that should stand us in good stead as we transition to the post covid - 19 recovery. digital platforms have been the lifelines in accessing essential financial, health, education, medical, entertainment and other services. we must embed these gains and leverage them as we pursue global resilience and growth post covid - 19. towards this end, we shall over the next few days, deliberate on various strategies. let me highlight three broad themes to set the stage. first, is restoring small and medium enterprises ( smes ). smes are the engines of economies globally and more particularly in africa. however, they have borne the brunt of covid - 19 containment measures including movement restrictions and curfews. their businesses have been disrupted causing

njuguna ndung ’ u : kenya – successes, challenges and future path keynote speech by prof njuguna ndung ’ u, governor of the central bank of kenya, at the kenya institute of bankers ’ ( kib ) annual dinner, nairobi, 25 november 2011. * * * the chairperson, board of directors, kib ; members of the kib council here present ; the chief executive, management and staff, kib ; chief executive officers of banks and financial institutions ; distinguished guests ; ladies and gentlemen : i am pleased and honoured to join you this evening. i therefore take this early opportunity to thank the kenya institute of bankers ( kib ) for inviting me to speak at this 2011 annual dinner. this is a valuable opportunity to celebrate our successes, reflect on the challenges during the year and chart our future path. ladies and gentlemen : in many ways 2011 has been a challenging year given the global and domestic shocks hitting the economy. the characteristic supply shocks – like fuel prices – have affected negatively both domestic prices and output. despite the shocks, the economy has remained resilient and is expected to register a modest growth of 5 % in 2011 compared with 4. 6 % in 2010. having endured the shocks buffeting the economy, the central bank has focused its policy response on containing inflation and stabilizing the exchange rate. the central bank tightened monetary policy by raising gradually both the cbr and crr to 16. 5 % and 5. 25 %, respectively. we have started to see these measures bearing fruit : there are signs of easing in domestic demand pressures while the exchange rate is stabilizing. ladies and gentlemen : even with the shocks hitting the economy and the policy responses putting us on a tight rope, the banking industry performance in the first three quarters surpassed expectations. let me highlight some of these performance indicators ; the industry ’ s deposit base grew by an impressive 21 % as at end october 2011 compared to october last year. deposit mobilization efforts were boosted by the new delivery channels introduced in the year, including the adoption of agency banking that has taken root with more than 8, 700 agents spread across the country. branches of banks also continued to grow and by september 2011, bank branches stood at 1, 113. the banking sector now has a presence in each of kenya ’ s 47 counties, which provides banks with a vantage position to contribute to the development agenda of the nascent counties. the asset base hit the ksh. 2 trillion mark in september 2011