prof. njuguna ndung ’ u : “ being a driver of change to invest differently in women ” keynote address by prof. njuguna ndung ’ u, governor of the central bank of kenya, at the dinner hosted by the african development bank and new faces new voices network gender equality and financial inclusion, restaurant les quatre coins du monde, abidjan, cote d ’ ivoire, 25 may 2010. * * * dr. donald kaberuka, president, african development bank ; madame graca machel, founder, new faces new voices network ; distinguished guests ; ladies and gentlemen it is indeed an honour and privilege for me to address this gathering tonight following the fruitful discussions during the african women ’ s economic summit held in march 2010 in nairobi, kenya. i would like to take this opportunity to thank the african development bank and the new faces new voices network for organizing tonight ’ s dinner. this event provides a platform to raise awareness about commitments made at the summit and the need to invest differently in women. it also offers us the opportunity to review the various pledges made at the summit and to recommend concrete actions for the way forward. ladies and gentlemen, women form a big proportion of the population and command a sizeable role in our societies ’ socio - economic activities and are therefore important economic and social change agents. in africa, women constitute more than half of the population and form the majority of our labour force, especially in agricultural activities and household welfare, which remain the backbone of our economies. a large number of them also run micro, small and medium enterprises ( msmes ) that constitute a significant share of economic activity in our economies. it cannot be doubted, therefore, that women play a critical role in the process of economic development in the african continent. despite this, women have remained largely marginalized in terms of access to, and control of resources that are crucial in wealth creation, welfare and the development process. an example from my own country, kenya, in terms of access to finance illustrates this clearly. although two national financial access surveys conducted in 2006 and 2009 have shown general improvements in financial access with access to formal finance improving from 19 to 23 percent ; semi - formal improving from 8 to 18 percent ; informal declining from 35 to 27 percent ; and the excluded falling from 38 to 33 percent ; access to finance has remained worse for women with 66 percent of women not accessing formal financial services and 33 percent being excluded altogether from any form of

term prospects are quite optimistic. growth is forecast at 4 – 5 percent for 2010. this is a conservative forecast as various indicators point to a higher growth rate. growth will be driven mainly by increased investment in key sectors including agriculture, services, infrastructure, health and education. after this recovery, kenya will be in a good position to refocus its efforts towards achieving vision 2030 goals. the government has identified the binding constraints whose resolutions will lower the cost of doing business substantially and propel the growth forecast higher ; kenya ’ s growth diagnostic studies have identified a lack of complementary factors : they include infrastructure gaps and poor private appropriability factors that prevent the private sector to reap full returns to their investment such as : crime, corruption and relics of political instability. the proposed constitution once adopted will herald institutional changes of unprecedented proportions for this great nation. to ease infrastructural constraints the 2010 / 11 national budget continues to allocate more funds for infrastructure. the infrastructure budget for fy 2010 / 11 is equivalent to 23. 3 percent of total expenditure reflecting the critical role infrastructure is expected to play towards reducing cost of doing business to improve domestic production competitiveness. the central bank has developed an effective instrument for this ; the infrastructure bonds – they have been very successful in the market. they have a further dimension of enhancing a savings - investment platform for kenyans and a strong stimulus to crowd - in rather than crowd out the private sector. 5. as a central banker, i want to reiterate the importance the government attaches to macroeconomic stability. you might have heard some assertions in some sections of the media that kenya ’ s debt position might be a problem in the future. given the developments in the euro zone where investors have punished countries for their fiscal position ( we call this debt overhang problem or risk – the private sector believes taxes will be increased in future to affect resource transfers from the private sector to the government to pay for high debt ). it is imperative that i parade the kenyan case to this esteemed audience. as of may 2010, kenya ’ s debt level stood at 44 per cent of gdp, external debt to gdp is at 28 per cent – a level much lower than for most countries in this region ( it has moved from 60 percent in 2003 to 40 percent in 2009 and to 44 percent as at may 2010 ). you will agree with me that this is commendable for a country which has not been a beneficiary of