billion increased to ksh. 107 billion. • the number of bank accounts has increased from 1. 9 million accounts to 17. 6 million. • deposit insurance has evolved to cover fully 94 % of the total deposit accounts. this phenomenal growth has been supported by the expansion of banks into new market segments, prudent risk management and enhanced economic prospects underpinned by a stable macroeconomic environment. the central bank expects the banking sector to continue on this growth trajectory. ongoing reforms and initiatives by the government and cbk will serve to further propel the banking sector to new frontiers of financial inclusion for more kenyans to access these services. ladies and gentlemen : kenya ’ s financial industry is currently one of the fastest growing not only in the east african region but in the continent. the government is committed to the implementation of sound policies towards financial deepening and overall economic development of this country as captured in vision 2030. it goes without saying that the banking industry is and will remain a major player towards this end. bis central bankers ’ speeches ladies and gentlemen : we need now to concentrate on reducing costs of doing business for banks so that we can bring down costs of financial services. for example, the recently introduced credit information sharing platform has enabled banks via reduced risk, to extend more credit to productive sectors boosting wealth and employment creation. the information sharing platform will support development of information capital as a new collateral technology in the market and reduce the information search costs and hence the risk premium over - load in the lending rates. in addition, the introduction of positive information sharing with credit reference bureaus will allow good debtors to leverage on this and bargain for lower costs of borrowing. the second area in reducing cost of doing business is the cost of rolling out branch networks to reach kenyans cost - effectively. this has worked and will continue to work well with the introduction of agent banking. the cbk has so far licensed 16, 333 agents since the roll out in may 2010. the third area that has lowered the cost of doing business is banks introducing innovative products to the market by leveraging on advanced technology and the mobile phone financial services platform. lower cost on these products has ensured uptake and volumes have grown. finally, the currency centres have helped to de - congest services at the branch and headquarters of cbk and physical distances, lowering costs for banks. in addition, the central bank will continue more forcefully with its four dimensional approach : advise ; cultivate partnership ; agent of development, but

to africa that contributes the least to pollution globally but bears the brunt of the adverse effects of climate change. as we build our digital ecosystems, we must keep in view effective digital governance frameworks. as data trails grow, we must protect our citizens from abuse of their data and ensure they are well informed on the use of their data. we must also beware of new trends. for instance, banks increasingly rely on artificial intelligence ( ai ) to make decisions on access to credit particularly for smes. rigorous evaluation of data models and their governance will be required to ensure that we do not introduce biases that inadvertently exclude the very citizens we are trying to on - board to digital ecosystems. in closing, let me once again thank you all for your participation. cbk looks forward to continued engagement, partnership and collaboration as we build back better from covid - 19. ladies and gentlemen, it is now my distinct honour and pleasure to invite his excellency uhuru kenyatta, president of the republic of kenya and commander - in - chief of the kenya defence forces, to deliver his keynote address. karibu, your excellency!