had to show resilience and strength in the face of a once - in - a - hundred - year pandemic and prepare for a world where once - in - a - hundred - year events occur every couple of years. that strength and learning will serve you well as you embark on your life ’ s work. as you do so, i hope some of you are considering a career in public service. others, not so much. i get it. public service is not glamorous. still, i hope many of you will consider devoting a part of your life ’ s work to a public mission and will do so with enthusiasm and urgency, because public service has a profound effect on the lives of people and communities across the country. and it can be motivating and satisfying in ways that are rare. so perhaps i could provide a glimpse of the hopes and dreams that animate my journey and guide my work, as a reminder that you can and must dream big and stay true to your chosen mission as you navigate your journey with as much passion as professionalism and as much integrity as intellect. so let me start by tracing back what i do today to what i cared about when i was a young american growing up in europe. ever since i was a little girl observing life in poland under soviet rule, i have been making mental checklists of the communities around me : gray apartment block with cratered walls and broken glass, dilapidated factory with an open furnace, long line at the bread shop. - 3i noticed the contrast between the bright colors and bustle of the farmers selling produce from their own plots of land and the gray bleakness of communist factories and poorly stocked shelves. and the even greater contrast with west germany at a time when it was fast integrating with its western neighbors : new cars, thriving small businesses, packed store shelves. what i observed around me as i came of age, i later understood, were features of the cold war battle over the ideals of freedom and enterprise and the kind of political systems and institutions that could best uphold those ideals. in those early days it was hard to imagine the rise of solidarity and the fall of the wall. three decades later, it is inspiring to stand with a united and free europe as it opposes russia ’ s war of aggression against ukraine. once i started working, i found myself compiling these checklists in maggie thatcher ’ s industrial towns, in auto assembly plants in detroit, in financial - crisis - stricken mexico city,

njuguna ndung ’ u : consolidating economic integration in africa remarks by prof njuguna ndung ’ u, governor of the central bank of kenya, at the 9th meeting of the association of african central banks ( aacb ) eastern africa sub - region, nairobi, 14 july 2010. * * * hon. uhuru kenyatta, deputy prime minister and minister for finance of the republic of kenya ; fellow central bank governors of the eastern africa sub - region ; the executive secretary general of the aacb ; chief executives of regulatory authorities in kenya ; distinguished guests ; ladies and gentlemen : hon. deputy prime minister and minister for finance, allow me to thank you most sincerely for finding time from your busy schedule to grace this important meeting in the calendar of central banks in the eastern africa region. your presence here today demonstrates the serious commitment of the government of kenya to monetary and financial integration in the continent as we strive to become a regional financial hub in line with kenya ’ s vision 2030. for instance, just this month, we witnessed the launching of the implementation of the east african common market. may i also extend a hand of welcome to my fellow governors from the eastern africa subregion present here today. i heartily thank you for finding time to be in nairobi. this is indeed a very great honour to the central bank of kenya and our country. i also warmly welcome the executive secretary of the aacb whose presence and contributions in the deliberations we look forward to. we also appreciate the presence of the chief executives of other financial sector regulatory authorities in kenya, whose presence here today signifies the all important synergy required between the different regulators in the process of financial integration. hon. minister, the abuja treaty envisaged the integration of the african continent through, among others, the strengthening of the sub - regional groupings and harmonization of national policies for the eventual evolvement of a monetary union in the continent. in line with this, the assembly of governors in the continent have been implementing the african monetary cooperation programme ( amcp ) since they adopted it on september 4, 2002 in algiers. the objective of this program is to put in place a common single currency and a common single central bank at continental level by 2021, at the end of a successful convergence process, in accordance with the african leaders ’ vision of consolidating economic integration in africa. commendable progress in the implementation of the amcp by the eastern africa sub - region has