patrick njoroge : empowering consumers of financial services through financial education speech by dr patrick njoroge, governor of the central bank of kenya, at the 9th financial sector regulators ’ forum joint boards of directors ’ retreat, mombasa, 26 august 2015. * * * i am delighted and honoured to be here today, on the occasion of the 9th financial sector regulators ’ joint boards of directors ’ retreat. i am particularly grateful for the warm welcome and strong support that i have received from you. it is great to be part of this great community. the theme of the retreat – empowering consumers of financial services through financial education – is appropriate and timely. at the outset, let me thank our keynote speaker, ms gerda piprek, for an excellent presentation. her expert views on how financially literacy serves the broader goals of increasing uptake of financial services and enhancing financial stability and policy effectiveness, are quite insightful. indeed, the rapidly increasing financial innovations and the complexity of new financial products make it an essential skill for participating in a modern society. thanks gerda! since the inception of our formal collaboration, much progress has been made in strengthening the bonds that bind us together. as you are all aware, we entered into a memorandum of understanding ( mou ) in august 2009, realizing that collaboration can increase performance in our respective responsibilities of promoting a safe, efficient, sound and stable financial system. that said, there is scope for enhancing our current collaborative efforts in several areas. let me highlight a few of these areas ; 1. information sharing : information sharing is critical to the success of our collaboration and i support fast tracking the establishment of a shared information sharing platform and database, for effective and evidence - based decision making. this would bolster surveillance of the financial system. i therefore expect the technical committee to fast - track this activity and submit a preliminary report to the chief executive officers at the earliest opportunity. 2. smart regulation to foster stability of the financial system : the wave of innovations in the financial sector has resulted in increased cross industry, cross sector and cross border operations, and interconnectedness within the financial sector. while this is laudable, it equally raises concerns about the potential for financial contagion, which could lead to economic instability and damage to society. this calls for vigilance and more collaboration in prudential surveillance, data analysis and sharpening of supervisory tools. in particular, i want to underscore the need to enhance data quality, harmonize regulatory

patrick njoroge : developing robust and sustainable strategies for microfinance in kenya opening remarks by dr patrick njoroge, governor of the central bank of kenya, at the microfinance training course for policy and development 2016, organised by the alliance forum foundation, held at the kenya school of monetary studies, nairobi, 24 february 2016. * * * distinguished guests ; ladies and gentlemen : on behalf of the central bank of kenya, let me join my colleagues in welcoming you to this workshop aimed at developing a strategy to enhance financial inclusion in the comesa region. the strategy will be underpinned by an enabling regulatory and supervisory framework for microfinance institutions. i understand that the strategy is based on the draft proceedings of microfinance training course for policy and development, which was held in december 2014 in lusaka. at the outset, let me commend the comesa monetary institute, the african development bank and the alliance forum foundation, for the work done so far. establishing a financially inclusive ecosystem that does not marginalize people on the basis of income or geographical location has become a policy concern for many countries in the world, including comesa member countries. financial inclusion has gained traction over the recent years as a priority area for policymakers and regulators within the financial services sector. the various initiatives that have been undertaken by different stakeholders, to enhance access and usage of formal financial services, have led to a significant reduction in the global population that is financially excluded. the global findex report ( 2014 ), spearheaded by the world bank, estimates that between 2011 and 2014, the number of adults without a bank account dropped by 20 percent, to 2 billion. the enhanced access is attributed largely to a significant growth in account penetration and innovations in technology, especially mobile money and agency banking. however, it is time now to shift the focus away from access and towards quality breadth of services. in kenya, the outcomes of the various initiatives, some of which will be highlighted in this workshop, have been remarkable. noteworthy progress includes, the increase in the banked population from 24 percent to 67 percent between 2006 and 2013 as highlighted by the finaccess surveys conducted by fsd kenya between 2006 and 2013. a geospatial survey that was conducted in 2013 also estimates that 76. 7 percent of the kenyan population is within a 5km radius of a financial access point. however, despite the noticeable progress in recent years, 25 percent of the kenyan population still remains unbanked. the existence