njuguna ndung ’ u : mobile and agency banking in kenya address by prof njuguna ndung ’ u, governor of the central bank of kenya, at the technical cooperation among developing countries programme on “ mobile and agency banking in kenya ”, kenya school of monetary studies, nairobi, 6 may 2013. * * * mr. saleh usman gashua, secretary general, afraca ; prof. kinandu muragu, executive director, ksms and afraca ’ s sub - regional chair for east africa ; facilitators ; distinguished guests and participants ; ladies and gentlemen ; it is my pleasure to officially open this knowledge exchange programme on mobile and agency banking in kenya. on behalf of the kenya school of monetary studies ( ksms ), which is co - hosting this programme, let me extend a warm welcome to you all to kenya and in particular to ksms, a leading regional training institution in financial matters. i sincerely hope that you will enjoy kenya ’ s hospitality and tourist attractions during your stay in kenya. ladies and gentlemen : at the outset i would like to commend afraca for its continued efforts towards enhanced agricultural and rural financing environment. forums like this allow afraca members not only to learn from each other ’ s experiences but also to challenge each other on possible policy solutions to increase agricultural and rural financing. as you may be aware, financial inclusion has lately assumed a central place in financial regulators mandates and is a public policy. the more formally financially included an economy is, the greater the likelihood of attaining financial developments and financial stability. in this regard, afraca ’ s vision of achieving a rural africa where people have access to sustainable financial services for economic development is very relevant to the financial inclusion objectives of afraca ’ s members. ladies and gentlemen : afraca ’ s decision to host you for this knowledge exchange on mobile and agency banking in kenya is a well thought out decision. this is because over the last 6 years millions of people, most of whom were financially excluded, have been brought into the formal financial sector through successful rollout of innovative mobile phone financial services products ( mfs ). kenya has witnessed increased competition and diversity in the mobile phone financial services space with more mobile phone operators launching mobile money products. financial institutions have also increasingly partnered and integrated their operating platforms with those of mobile phone financial services platform to leverage on the convenience and efficiencies they present. as a result, the

njuguna ndung ’ u : the agent banking model remarks by prof njuguna ndung ’ u, governor of the central bank of kenya, at the launch of ecobank kenya ’ s rapid transfer product, nairobi, 17 june 2010. * * * mr. peter kanyago, chairman, ecobank kenya ; mr. anthony okpanachi, managing director of ecobank kenya ; board members ; management and staff ; distinguished guests ; ladies and gentlemen : i am delighted to have been invited to the launch of the new rapid transfer product by ecobank. i am informed that this new product will provide ecobank customers with a fast, convenient, reliable and secure way to transfer funds at all ecobank branches across 27 african countries, making ecobank a truly “ pan african bank ”. allow me at this juncture to commend the board, management and staff of ecobank kenya for the introduction of this new product that will not only enhance customer service but also boost trade across the african continent. the launch of rapid transfer product is indeed another milestone for the banking industry and demonstrates ecobank ’ s commitment to financial innovation. it is noteworthy that since ecobank kenya ’ s entry into the kenyan market in june 2008, the bank has grown its branch network from 9 to the current 20 branches including the head office. this indeed shows the level of confidence that the board and the management of ecobank have in the kenyan market. despite the various local and global turbulences experienced over the past two years, the banking sector continues to exhibit resilience and has remained strong. the impressive 2009 end year performance has been largely supported by growth in deposits, injection of capital, retention of profits and also declining costs of doing business supported by technology. during the period ended april 2010, the sector ’ s assets stood at kshs. 1. 5 trillion, with gross loans and advances at kshs. 799. 5 billion. deposits increased to kshs. 1. 1 trillion supported mainly by branch expansion, receipts from exports and remittances from abroad. at the same time, the banking sector registered a pre - tax profit of ksks19. 5 billion, in the four months to april 2010 compared to shs 48 billion in the twelve months of 2009. the sector is therefore likely to achieve better results this year compared to the previous year. despite the impressive performance by banks, customers continue to shoulder the heavy burden of high transactional costs. this historical burden has to