by world renowned rating agencies standards and poor and fitch, as well as, the reclassification of zambia as a middle income country by the world bank. the rating and reclassification requires the central bank, the zambian business community and government to continue enhancing the financial system to ensure that it is robust and reaches the unbanked. ladies and gentlemen, the product that is being launched today, demonstrates the way businesses are evolving to bring forth financial solutions that benefit customers. this service provides an important avenue for harnessing resources for financing development in our bis central bankers ’ speeches communities as airtel will partner with various stakeholders in different sectors of the economy. this will further enhance the development of the telecoms sector and its contribution to our economy. therefore, i wish to commend airtel for introducing this product which is expected to contribute towards bridging the gap in financial service provision by catering for customers in remote areas who have no access to banking services. the product is expected to extend the financial inclusion agenda in that it will be far reaching thereby impacting positively on the zambian public. i am also informed that the product is expected to reduce the use of cash in the economy. as you may be aware, the bank of zambia has been working towards reducing the use of cash in the economy by encouraging the use of alternative electronic means of payment such as the product being launched today. it is initiatives and innovations like airtel money that will make it possible for the general public to have alternative methods of transacting other than cash and other transnational payment instruments. to this end, i wish to mention that the bank of zambia with other stakeholders is in the process of putting in place a national switch that will further enhance initiatives such as this one whose launch we are witnessing today. ladies and gentlemen, the bank of zambia will continue to support any efforts and innovations by the private sector that extend the provision of financial services to the majority of our citizens. i look forward to seeing the product being launched today live up to the expectations of providing a safe, efficient, secure and reliable service to the zambian people. i hope that all customers will enjoy using the airtel money service. with these few remarks, i wish to declare airtel money officially launched and wish it all the success. thank you. bis central bankers ’ speeches

quality of service delivery of financial services, increase access to financial services by developing a rural finance policy and strategy and lastly delivering effective financial education. notwithstanding the work done through the fsdp, the financial sector in zambia still faces a number of major challenges. access to financial services among the adult population is at 37. 3 %, the cost of accessing financial services is still high, the quality of financial service bis central bankers ’ speeches delivery can do with some improvement and financial literacy remains low and presents an important factor in explaining the low level of financial inclusion that we see in the country today. the fsdp, honourable ministers, therefore, remains work in progress. i would like, however, to mention some milestones which have been achieved under this programme in order to underscore its potential as a tool for transforming for the better, zambia ’ s financial sector landscape. under the fsdp, we have witnessed the establishment of the credit reference bureau which is beginning to play an increasingly important role in helping financial institutions better manage credit risk, which in turn, should feed into less expensive credit. a draft rural finance policy and strategy aimed at improving finance to rural areas has also been completed and awaits implementation. another important exercise accomplished has been the law review exercise which has reviewed all existing legislation in the financial sector with the view to modernise, harmonise them and ensure that the different legislations speak to each other rather conflict each other. consequently, we will be submitting to government amendments to various laws, including those in banking, insurance and the capital market. another significant accomplishment under the fsdp has been work done so far in formulating a national strategy for financial education. this initiative grew out of the recognition of the fact that financial institutions and certain ngos that were engaged in promoting various financial education activities and programme were operating in isolation. what was clearly missing was a coherent and well - co - ordinated strategy among these organisations for delivering an effective education to enhance financial literacy and inclusion. consequently the fsdp identified the need to develop a coordinated approach to financial education as a meaningful way of bringing progress to this process. it therefore, started its intervention by commissioning a stock taking study of financial education efforts taking place in zambia in order to establish its true status. dfid provided financial support in the form of technical assistance which enabled the fsdp to recruit finmark trust to carry out the study. subsequently, a report was produced and presented to various stakeholders in november last