patrick njoroge : transforming kenya ’ s financial sector speech by dr patrick njoroge, governor of the central bank of kenya, at the launch of barclays centennial celebrations, nairobi, 12 february 2016. * * * good morning! i am honoured by your invitation to witness this epic milestone. today i proudly join barclays bank of kenya ( bbk ) in celebrating 100 years in kenya, a century of transformative contribution to the financial sector. it is indeed no mean feat and i congratulate you on this historic occasion. i envision the courage and tenacity of your founders on nkrumah road in mombasa, armed with no more than capital and belief in the promise of this then remote frontier territory with rudimentary links to the rest of the world. this celebration is indeed a vindication of the faith and vision of those pioneers, from which later generations have benefitted enormously. over these 100 years, the world has changed, kenya has changed, and barclays has changed. from an enterprise largely geared towards serving the interests of the british colonial settlers, barclays has grown into a modern and integrated financial services provider. in your middle age during the 1960s, you witnessed kenya take its initial steps towards self - determination and eventual independence. today, you serve a wide clientele through products and services that exemplify innovation and support the kenyan entrepreneurial spirit. at end - 2015, barclays was ranked fifth out of 42 banks, with a market share of 6. 83 percent. today the bank has more than 100 branches and 180 agents through strategic partnerships. these indicators capture the long and winding path that barclays has traversed from its beginnings a century ago. i salute the board, management, staff and indeed all barclays ’ customers, for these remarkable achievements. to survive and thrive, barclays has had to cope with global turmoil and numerous shocks. when your founders landed in kenya, the first world war was raging, and the second war would break out 23 years later. more recently, we have had to deal with the global financial crisis, refugees, and terrorism. but the world has also shrunk with globalization and advances in technology. when barclays opened its first office, the wright brothers had flown the first powered airplane in 1903, but the first non - stop transatlantic flight was still more than 10 years away. since then, we have broken the speed of sound, put a man on the moon, and landed a robot on a comet

from 35 to 27 percent and the excluded falling from 38 to 33 percent, access to finance for rural areas is still low, with 64 percent of the rural populace not accessing formal financial services and 21 percent being excluded from any form of financial services. this is a huge drag to development that is driven by financial access. we know from established wisdom that poverty is very rural based in countries we come from. access to finance allows the poor to escape poverty by building their assets through savings and credit. at the central bank of kenya, we remain committed to promoting innovations that will enhance financial access and inclusion for the people of kenya. these reforms we believe will inevitably enhance access to finance in rural areas. my colleagues will be alluding to these reforms in the course of this conference. ladies and gentlemen : the size of credit to the agricultural sector in kenya by the banking sector has risen over the last five years from usd335 million ( ksh. 28. 1 billion ) in december 2007 to usd620 million ( ksh. 52. 7 billion ) as at february 2011. this growth is explained bis central bankers ’ speeches partly by the outcomes of the initiatives enumerated above. the level is expected to increase once the reform initiatives take root. to conclude my remarks, ladies and gentlemen, let me take this opportunity to reiterate the commitment of central bank of kenya to contribute to the fulfillment of afraca ’ s vision. it is my hope that this conference shall provide participants with key lessons on how to achieve a rural africa where people have access to sustainable financial services for economic development. i also reiterate that it is only through the concerted efforts of all players, governments, development agencies, donors, regulators and service providers that we will be able to deliver on this vision. with those few remarks, ladies and gentlemen, it is now my honour and pleasure to welcome the deputy prime minister and minister for finance, hon. uhuru kenyatta to deliver his keynote address and to officially open the 3rd afraca central banks forum. thank you. bis central bankers ’ speeches