caroline abel : closing remarks - incoming chairperson of the african financial inclusion policy initiative vote of thanks and closing remarks by ms caroline abel, governor of central bank of seychelles, at the 10th african financial inclusion policy initiative ( afpi ) meetings and leaders roundtable, arusha, 23 june 2022. * * * professor florens luoga, outgoing chairperson and governor of the bank of tanzania ; dr. alfred hannig, executive director of the alliance for financial inclusion ; governors and deputy governors ; ladies and gentleman ; good afternoon. i am honoured to address you once again as we end this year's afpi leaders roundtable, which concludes four days of intensive, engaging and fruitful discussions on a subject deemed important for our respective countries and the region. financial inclusion - more importantly, digital financial inclusion - as a key driver of economic growth and stability cannot be overemphasised. and i am sure that the engagements throughout this week have reaffirmed our resolve and increased our commitment to pursue this objective. while the digitalisation of our economies was already underway, the nature of the covid - 19 pandemic has undoubtedly propelled the acceleration of our digital transformation efforts, finding some of us ready for this new reality and signalling a reality check for others. over the past four days, we have had the opportunity to take stock of the progress made and identify further actions needed to achieve our objectives amidst an everevolving financial landscape and economic environment. it has been refreshing to learn about what is happening across the continent – from the innovative regulatory and supervisory solutions to the electronic kyc and digital identity innovations that some of our members are implementing to advance financial inclusion. i am aware that links have been established amongst members present for further peer learning going forward, as we have drawn inspiration from the success stories that have been shared, of how the digital transformation is creating opportunities and bringing numerous benefits for the various groups within our economies. these endeavours surely present us with the opportunity to renew our commitment to work on overcoming the challenges and barriers that still exist to ensure that no one is left behind. we have had prolonged discussions on numerous topics, but i believe we can all agree that a key takeaway is that it is not enough to simply make digital financial services and products available. they need to be convenient, fast, affordable, reliable and safe. they 1 / 3 bis - central bankers'speeches need to be tailored to meet the needs of the various segments of our society, from individuals

tend to be smaller. the imf should also minimise its provision of financial assistance not least because these are public resources which it is distributing. it should therefore itself bear only the absolutely necessary portion of a financing package. it can define a maturity and an interest rate for the resources which it provides that give the debtor an incentive to repay them as soon as possible. finally, of course, the imf must make its help subject to certain requirements, that is it must define the conditionality. that is part of the imf ’ s mandate and is also in the interest of the world community. in defining the conditionality it is imperative to tackle the underlying causes. time after time it has become clear that macroeconomic measures alone often do not suffice. in asia - as elsewhere - it has become apparent instead that one of the root causes was the insufficient soundness and robustness of the financial sector. the work of the committees in basle and the efforts of the fund have laid the basis for appropriate rules and appropriate supervision. the key need now is to translate that into action. for many of the countries concerned that may not be easy. but the gains will make the effort worthwhile. moreover, effective financial supervision and robust financial sectors are a prerequisite for the further liberalisation of capital transactions as envisaged by the imf and supported by us. vi since last autumn the imf has come under heavy criticism from some quarters - most unfairly in some cases. the proposals for improving the situation range from abolishing the imf altogether to setting up additional institutions. we can be certain of two things : firstly, the imf is now over 50 years old. when a human being reaches that age we say that he or she is still capable of doing outstanding work, has acquired great experience but, of course, is not infallible. secondly, the overall setting has changed tremendously in the past decades. the world has long since moved away from fixed exchange rates with limited capital transactions. today the exchange rates of the major reserve currencies are flexible and the markets are becoming increasingly integrated worldwide. - 6but i do not believe that the fund ’ s age and the changed setting mean that the imf is superfluous. on the contrary! in this context i would like to draw your attention to the fact that we in germany have already notified the fund of our agreement to an increase in our quota in order to strengthen the financial basis of