! innovations in finance offer new opportunities to the financial sector. this may especially be the case in africa, where these innovations are perhaps less of a “ threat ” to the traditional banking sector than in “ overbanked ” europe. but even more important in my view are the benefits of innovation for consumers and businesses. new technology in finance brings more choice, lower costs and greater convenience for users. this not only holds for advanced countries with well - developed banking sectors, but certainly also for africa with its many remote areas and still many “ unbanked ” inhabitants. indeed, a sustainable and prudent development and use of new technologies in finance will help to further promote financial inclusion in africa. and this is of vital importance. for this relationship between financial inclusion and economic growth has been clearly established time and again. financial services are the lifeblood of an economy. access to financial services allows households to smooth out consumption and invest in their future. for businesses, access to credit enables them to expand and to create jobs. financial inclusion, in short, is one key for promoting strong and stable economic growth. innovations in finance are perhaps the most promising way to advance financial inclusion. that is why it is so important that new technologies in finance are being exploited in africa, as this will help unlock the continent ’ s massive “ unbanked ” population. for companies involved in supplying this new type of services this implies that they will continuously need to embrace innovative strategies. in this way, they will be able to shape financial products to fit consumers ’ rising financial sophistication needs. recent history suggests that african companies are able to do so quite successfully. kenya, for instance, has led the world in innovative financial services based on mobile telephony by introducing m - pesa and m - pesa - derived systems such as m - shwari and m - kesho. this has made several financial services available to anyone with a mobile phone at a fraction of the cost. exploiting innovations in finance is one. strengthening institutions is the other. one of the most fundamental questions in economic science is “ why are some countries richer than others ”? differences in the quality of legal, political and educational institutions between countries turns out to be an important part of the answer. indeed, the strengthening of such institutions often goes hand in hand with higher economic growth : countries with stronger institutions experience stronger economic growth compared to countries with weaker institutions. there are several reasons why this turns out to be the case. strong institutions

certain economies. this has been an important area of work for the fsb. in 2022, we published a report looking at trends in the structure of emes'external borrowing, focusing on the shift towards non - bank financing. the report examined how these developments contributed to the build - up of vulnerabilities in emes and to the march 2020 turmoil. it discussed policy issues that could be considered when thinking about measures to limit these vulnerabilities. this included measures to tackle the build - up of foreign exchange mismatches ; enhance crisis management tools ; and address data gaps to facilitate risk monitoring and the timely adoption of policies. the fsb also stressed the importance of ongoing work to address vulnerabilities from liquidity mismatches in open - ended funds, which would also help bolster the resilience of emes'financial systems. i am therefore happy to report that the fsb is finalising its policy recommendations to address structural vulnerabilities from liquidity mismatch in open - ended funds, working in close coordination with iosco. 2 / 3 bis - central bankers'speeches enhancing the resilience of the nbfi remains a key priority for the fsb in 2024. the fsb will also continue to build on the lessons from the march 2023 turmoil and to monitor macro - financial vulnerabilities in a higher interest rate environment. let me conclude. vulnerabilities in the global financial system remain elevated. tightening financial conditions and high levels of debt create challenges for both bank and non - bank lenders. in tackling the challenges ahead, formulating policy responses and building resilience, it is essential that there is global coordination and that we pay attention to potential cross - border spill - overs. gatherings like today's forum are an important way of exchanging views and identifying the different ways in which governments and international organisations can work to enhance the resilience of our global financial system. as i mentioned earlier, regional perspectives matter a great deal, and amro's financial stability report is therefore a welcome contribution to the global dialogue on vulnerabilities. for our part, the fsb will remain focused on building resilience, so that the financial system can continue to play its part in building strong, sustainable, inclusive, and balanced growth. thank you. 3 / 3 bis - central bankers'speeches