njuguna ndung ’ u : the future of financial service delivery in kenya introductory remarks by prof njuguna ndung ’ u, governor of the central bank of kenya, during the second scenario building workshop on “ the future of financial service delivery in kenya ”, nairobi, 16 april 2010. * * * chief executives of commercial banks here present ; distinguished guests ; colleagues ; ladies and gentlemen ; i am honoured this morning to be addressing this distinguished gathering. allow me therefore at the outset to thank you for accepting our invitation to attend this second scenarios building workshop on the future of financial service delivery in kenya. i am deeply convinced that our deliberations today will go a long way in shaping the future of our financial industry as was the case with the first workshop held last year. ladies and gentlemen : this year, nairobi scenario ii workshop comes at a time when a number of countries around the world are increasingly pursuing the development of branchless banking policy frameworks. this indicates branchless banking is receiving increasing international attention and capturing the imagination of a wide array of players and international bodies. in particular, as part of its commitment to financial inclusion, the g - 20 has established the access through innovation ( ati ) subgroup of the financial inclusion experts group. ladies and gentlemen : kenya ’ s financial inclusion agenda is premised on its current development blueprint, vision 2030. under this vision, kenya aspires to be a middle income country by 2030 and the financial sector is expected to mobilize substantial financial resources required to realize this vision. in addition, savings rate are targeted to increase to 32. 0 percent within the period. for this to happen, financial reach, inclusion, and deepening to increase financial instruments will need to take place. the central bank on its part will have to foster stability and accessibility of the kenyan financial system. in this regard, we will continuously implement reforms to : strengthen the banking sector through an enhanced legal and regulatory framework including scaling up minimum capital requirements. address structural rigidities that impact adversely on the cost of financial services. some of these we need to learn from you and then we can improve the environment for you. enhance efficiency and safety of payment and settlement systems through use of innovative internet and mobile based solutions. as it were, reliable and efficient payment systems increase both the effectiveness of monetary policy and minimize payment system risks. ladies and gentlemen : in order to accomplish the tenets of branchless banking across the globe, we need to unanimously

how to transform yourselves and the world around you, i would like to offer you a few lessons. even if you just remember one of these, it may be enough, but it may help if you took some notes and pulled them out every so often for reference. the first is one that you may have come across. warren buffett is an american investor, who many of you may have heard of. the companies in his investment portfolio currently employ hundreds of thousands of people, and buffett has been investing since the 1950s, so he has employed millions more. in other words, he knows exactly what it takes to hire a good employee. here is what he says : we look for three things when we hire people. we look for intelligence, we look for initiative or energy, and we look for integrity. and if they don't have the latter, the first two will kill you. his point was that, all too often, potential employers and employees get overly excited about their grades out of university. employers become enthusiastic about the skills that potential employees bring to the organisation. what they forget, and what buffett ’ s point is, is that skills, intelligence and initiative are good for accomplishing tasks. however, when the people you hire do not have integrity, they can actually use their proficiency to bring down the organisation. what is often forgotten is the last part of buffett ’ s quote : if you are going to get someone without integrity, you want them lazy and dumb. in other words, without integrity, you would rather not have – or be – an employee with skills and energy. i would like to go back briefly to the issue of technology, but approaching it from a different perspective. we have agreed that some of you will be closely involved in the development of the technologies of the future, and the applications riding on that technology. even today, i receive multiple developers in my office, who would like to showcase their fintech innovations. frankly, some of them are nowhere near ready for the market, and are nothing better than class projects. but that is not the point. the bigger point is that we are right to be excited to be at the forefront of innovation. but i believe that the bigger task in the coming years and decades, and where considerable work is required, is in the developing of the ethics of technology. it is not enough to add more bells and whistles to a mobile phone application. it is not enough to write code for the internet of things