patrick njoroge : launch of the banking industry sign language self - training mobile application remarks by dr patrick njoroge, governor of the central bank of kenya, at the launch of the banking industry sign language self - training mobile application, organized by the kenya bankers association ( kba ), 2 december 2021. * * * good morning! i am pleased to be part of the launch of the deaf elimu banking application ( app ). my gratitude goes to the kenya bankers association ( kba ) for putting together this event and for the invitation to participate. i also extend my appreciation to the financial sector deepening ( fsd ) kenya and deaf elimu plus limited for their partnership with kba on this project. the choice of date for this launch is apt, being a day before the world commemorates the international day of persons with disabilities. i note with appreciation that my sentiments one year ago, during the launch of the persons with disability digital access report, were duly considered and executed. i challenged the participants to provide tailor - made financial products that meet the needs of persons with disabilities. i am informed that 31 commercial banks have submitted their roadmaps on how they intend to implement the recommendations made in the report. it is therefore exciting to be here today to launch an app that is going to revolutionize banking for the hearing impaired. the world health organization ( w ho ) estimates that 5 percent of the world ’ s population ( 430 million people ) are living with “ disabling ” hearing loss. this number is envisaged to grow to over 700 million people ( one in every ten people ) by 2050. of this population, about 80 percent are people living in developing countries. in kenya, of the 900, 000 ( 2. 2 percent ) persons with disabilities, 150, 000 people ( 16 percent ) are living with hearing loss. this is a significant population, who are likely to be sidelined due to the non - inclusivity of our systems. in kenya, we pride ourselves in achieving 82. 9 percent financial inclusion. however, only 0. 5 percent of persons with disabilities are part of these statistics. this brings me to the barriers locking out persons living with disabilities from the financial system. it is interesting to note that these barriers are rudimentary. they include negative attitude, misunderstandings by both financial institutions as well as their clients living with disabilities, unfavorable infrastructure such as lack of ramps and having to endure long queues. it is

njuguna ndung ’ u : implementing reforms in kenya remarks by prof njuguna ndung ’ u, governor of the central bank of kenya, at the 15th east afritac steering committee meeting, naivasha, 8 april 2013. * * * members of the east afritac steering committee here present ; mr. xavier maret, the east afritac centre coordinator ; mr. ragnar gudmundsson, imf resident representative to kenya ; east afritac advisors and consultants ; distinguished ladies and gentlemen : it is my pleasure to officially open the 15th east afritac steering committee meeting. on behalf of the government of kenya, i take this opportunity to welcome you all to kenya. in particular, i would like to welcome you to naivasha, one of our leading horticultural producing regions and a tourist destination at the heart of the great rift valley. i know that we have some good work cut out for us in the next one and a half days but at the same time i would like to encourage all of you and especially those visiting the region for the first time, to find time to sample our beautiful tourist attractions in naivasha before you depart. naivasha is also the home town of the roses that are cherished in europe and the town is also located in the precincts of the panoramic landscapes of the great rift valley which you must have enjoyed as you descended the escarpment on your way to this resort. ladies and gentlemen some of you may be wondering why i am opening the 15th east afritac steering committee meeting this evening instead of tomorrow, 9th april 2013 as had been indicated in the programme. it is for a good reason because on the 9th of april we will be witnessing the culmination of a process that started way back in 2010 when we promulgated our new constitution. the kenyan constitution 2010 brought in new governance structures and processes including the way we conduct elections and procedures for transfer of political power. this is why we had to adjust the programme to allow my participation during the inauguration of the fourth president of the republic of kenya on tuesday, 9th april 2013. given the critical importance of this meeting, we thought it should proceed as planned. ladies and gentlemen let me now turn to the subject matter of our meeting and in this regard, i would like to first and foremost express our sincere gratitude to east afritac for the support that we have received over the years. through this support, we have