of national strategies that promote financial inclusion are critical to enhancing access to a diverse range of financial products to the unbanked in kenya, the mandate of the government to enhance the deepening of financial markets by fostering access, efficiency and stability is captured under kenya ’ s vision 2030. the central bank ’ s approach to achieving its role under vision 2030, is centered on the promotion of an enabling legal and regulatory framework that fosters the development of a diverse range of financial service providers, while guaranteeing its dual mandate of financial stability and financial integrity. central to this objective has been the licensing and regulation of microfinance banks. the first microfinance bank in kenya was licensed in may, 2009. this paved the way for 11 other microfinance banks which have been licenced to date. the 12 licenced microfinance banks have made a significant contribution to financial inclusion in kenya. this is evidenced by the number of active deposit and loan accounts as at december 2015 which was 931, 585 and 342, 481 respectively. in value terms, this represented bis central bankers ’ speeches ksh. 40. 5 billion in deposits and ksh. 46. 9 billion in advances. further, microfinance banks had a footprint of 109 branches and 1, 154 agents as at december 2015. while commendable achievements have been made in the past 6 years, the microfinance sector in kenya still has considerable opportunities and challenges that institutions need to tackle in order to realize their full potential. key amongst these challenges include the high cost of credit, inadequate products and services, and weak consumer protection frameworks. microfinance institutions must be willing to make a difference if the full benefits of microfinance and financial inclusion are to be realized. microfinance institutions must be prepared to employ innovative delivery channels to reduce their operational costs, and thereby enhance their reach and efficiency. an essential element in this process is recognizing the characteristics of the customers of these institutions and tailoring lending mechanisms to meet their situations. policymakers, on their part, should support the development of appropriate support infrastructure to facilitate the last mile delivery of suitable financial services. therefore, the development of proportionate, risk - based, regulations by policymakers is critical to guaranteeing the development of a dynamic, robust and sustainable microfinance framework for a country. the starting point towards this collaborative structure is a consultative process to developing a forward - looking framework for regulation and supervision of microfinance institutions. developing

collateral. for financial institutions saddled with moribund ict legacy systems, the cloud presents an opportunity to upscale to the anytime anywhere cutting - edge financial services platforms demanded by today ’ s discerning customers. even as we reap from innovation, we must remain alive to the risks. recent devastating cyber attacks including solarwinds, colonial pipeline and kaseya in the u. s. come into mind. in the region, we have also seen an upsurge in online scams, identity theft and social engineering attacks. we must therefore reinforce our cyber defenses internally to neutralize the insider threat. externally, as a financial sector we must build a circle of trust, nationally, regionally and globally to share information and co - ordinate our cyber responses. third, strong governance should underpin the culture in banks. this goes beyond the classical tenets of an effective board, management and staff with clearly defined responsibilities and accountability. governance in the age of the fourth industrial revolution would also be about the public good, for instance, supporting appropriate behavior in the financial markets. banks play a critical role in foreign exchange markets and are key players in the government securities markets. misbehaviour in these markets adversely affects society through distortions in foreign exchange rates and raising the cost of debt for government. appropriate market conduct is therefore imperative to avoid short term profitability gains jeopardizing the long term societal good. anti - money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism ( aml / cft ) is another key facet of supporting the public good. lapses in aml / cft can be devastating given the consequences particularly of terrorism. kenya, for instance has borne the brunt of terrorism including the dusit 2 complex attack in 2019 that took advantage of vulnerabilities in aml / cft frameworks of part of the financial sector. technology now offers banks, cutting - edge 3 / 4 bis central bankers'speeches technologies to monitor and analyse transactions and reinforce their aml / cft defenses. * * * * * as i draw to a close, i want to emphasize that we must all act with courage to do the right thing, and not just survive but thrive. we must have the courage to bend it like beckham, to go around the walls to attain the goals of people - centricity, balanced innovation, and stronger governance. i am sure you will reach deep and find the courage to bend it like beckham one day after