njuguna ndung ’ u : the role of financial education in financial sector development opening remarks by prof. njuguna ndung ’ u, governor of the central bank of kenya, at the public service master trainers workshop for financial education, nairobi, 12 july 2010. * * * mr. david ferrand, director, fsd kenya ; ms. bilha maina, project manager, financial education, fsd kenya ; facilitators ; participants ; ladies and gentlemen : i am delighted and honoured to be here today to officially open this training workshop geared towards developing master trainers in financial education in the public sector in kenya. to start with, let me extend my appreciation to fsd kenya for inviting me to officially open this training workshop. i also thank microfinance opportunities for accepting to facilitate this valuable workshop. ladies and gentlemen : this training workshop aims to achieve four goals. as participants you will : learn about financial education in general ; develop skills in adult learning and facilitation ; examine the global financial education program in detail ; acquire the necessary tools and skills to train others, and equip customers with the knowledge to demand services. these objectives revolve around the direction we want to take on financial development. i urge each one of you to go into this programme with an open mind. the perspective of this training is totally different from the academic courses we have all gone through – it is a focus on the basics, practicality and application. ladies and gentlemen : allow me now to briefly share with you, in simple terms, the role of financial education in financial sector development. as we are all aware, the global financial sector is extremely dynamic and these dynamics feed into the domestic financial sector. the innovations have covered financial products, services, processes and procedures. these innovations are only possible with continuous upscaling of the financial market players ’ knowledge. similarly, innovations arise based on market demands which are driven by the desire of customers for a safe and efficient financial sector. the financial services providers would want to see their market niche increasing but not be challenged by other competitors. but the customers must use the financial services and demand more of those services. we did not know what we had missed over the years until m - pesa came to the scene. when consumers are financially informed they are in a position to demand quality financial services at fair prices. this makes it necessary for the providers to innovate products suitable for their customers ’ needs. in

human resources to anti - money laundering is a challenge. third, the cfatf report suggests that in most of our countries aml / cft supervision of designated non - financial businesses is virtually non existent. fourth, caribbean jurisdictions lack an effective operational framework. in such a framework, countries are required to maintain statistics not only on the number of aml / cft examinations but also on prosecutions, convictions and the value of assets forfeited. statistics to support the level of international cooperation and sharing of information must also be kept. an effective implementation process also requires a dynamic public awareness programme. the public must be involved in the fight against money laundering and terrorism and meaningful involvement can be achieved through their education on key issues and signals. growth in the general awareness of the nature of money laundering and its pernicious effects when combined with the training of relevant stakeholders can lead to the appropriate level of vigilance. ladies and gentlemen for all the reasons outlined above this workshop could not have come at a better time. from a quick glance, it is clear that the agenda is pertinent and relevant. i would hope that this workshop does three things : 1. help you to improve your knowledge of money laundering techniques and the mechanisms that could be devised to deal with money laundering. 2. further discussions on ways of making the public more aware of money laundering. they must know that money laundering is a crime, that it affects them, the economy and the society ; and 3. contribute to strengthening the regional anti - money laundering network, get to know each other better and devise ways of sharing information with each other. such a collaborative effort is needed in order to combat these two menaces. i wish you five days of fruitful and stimulating discussions.