growth rate of 50 percent ; the number of bank branches at the end of july 2010 stood at 1, 020 an increase of 24 branches from the end of december 2009 ; the number of bank accounts has increased by 35 percent from 7. 9 million accounts in july 2009 to 10. 7 million as at the end of july 2010. this impressive growth has been supported by the expansion of banks into new market segments, prudent risk management and enhanced economic prospects underpinned by a stable macroeconomic environment. the central bank expects the banking sector to continue on this growth trajectory. ongoing reform initiatives by the government and cbk will serve to further propel the banking sector to new frontiers of financial inclusion for more kenyans. for this reason, the central bank together with kenya bankers association has been keen to move in the directions that market requires support. mr. chairman : we need now to concentrate on reducing costs of doing business for banks so that we can bring down costs of financial services. for example, the recently introduced credit information sharing platform will enable banks to extend more credit to productive sectors boosting wealth and employment creation. the information sharing platform will help develop the required information capital that will support an adoption of a new collateral technology in the market and reduce the information search costs. this will be especially important for small and medium enterprises and individuals who have been constrained in accessing credit due to lack of physical collateral. however, the benefits of credit information sharing will only accrue if banks and other information providers ensure information availed to the bureaus is accurate and credible. it is therefore imperative that banks and their customers and licensed credit reference bureaus continue to work together to ensure accuracy and credibility of records. on its part the central bank will continue to work with other players to extend the reach of the credit information sharing mechanism beyond the banking sector. but so far, we are encouraged with the first batch of information sent to crb africa – 78 percent of it was accurate – with no errors. this shows that the information template reflects the true picture in the banking sector. ladies and gentlemen : the second area in reducing cost of doing business is the cost of rolling out branch networks to reach kenyans cost - effectively. this will work well with the introduction of agent banking. the cbk has so far licensed 5, 892 agents since the roll out in may 2010. ladies and gentlemen : the third area to lower cost of doing business is for you banks – you have to develop innovative products for

njuguna ndung ’ u : launch of the first and new currency of the republic of south sudan address by prof njuguna ndung ’ u, governor of the central bank of kenya, at the launch of the first and new currency of the republic of south sudan, juba, south sudan, 18 july 2011. * * * your excellency, salva kiir, president of the republic of south sudan ; honourable minister of finance of the republic of south sudan ( ross ) ; all honourable ministers of the ross ; honourable the governor of the bank of south sudan ( boss ) ; all invited guests ; ladies and gentlemen, it gives me great pleasure, honour and privilege to be part of this historic ceremony of launching the first currency for the newly born republic of south sudan. indeed i wish to congratulate the republic of south sudan for being able to introduce new currency hardly ten days after the country ’ s independence day. this is by all standards no mean achievement. i watched with great delight the recent celebrations that marked the birth of the republic of south sudan and consider it a great honour to have been invited to this equally important milestone event in the history of this new nation. this event is extremely important for the central bank of kenya as it signifies the strong relationship that the south sudan has had with the central bank of kenya over the years. the central bank of kenya hosted his excellency the governor of bank of south sudan some years back. this paved the way for the continued friendship the two institutions have enjoyed to date. ladies and gentlemen, i am also glad to note that recent consultations have identified additional areas in which technical assistance can be offered to the bank of south sudan by the central bank of kenya. your excellency mr. president, we recognize the enormous but not insurmountable task that the bank of south sudan has in transforming itself from a branch to a fully fledged central bank and assure you of the central bank of kenya ’ s commitment and support in this transformation process. coming to the wider network of the eastern african region, leap frog with ease for bank of south sudan : 1. payment systems 2. currency convertibility 3. facilitate trade with the rest of the east african community region. with these few remarks, i wish to once again congratulate the republic of south sudan and the bank of south sudan for launching its new currency. thank you and god bless. bis central bankers ’ speeches