- savvy nature of the younger generation. 1 / 3 bis - central bankers'speeches in seychelles, financial empowerment of the youth was given impetus with the launch of the national financial education strategy in 2017, which identified this important segment of the population as one of four main target groups that need to be financially educated. over the past five years, the central bank of seychelles has undertaken various initiatives targeting the youth at an institutional level and in collaboration with other stakeholders. these have taken multiple forms, such as in - person or virtual sessions at workplaces and educational institutions and the dissemination of awareness materials through mainstream and social media. a financial education youth ambassadors programme was also launched in 2021 to empower young people aged between 16 and 30 on financial matters and encourage peer - to - peer learning and advocacy on financial education. at a national level, entrepreneurship and financial education are being integrated into the school curriculum at primary and secondary institutions and relevant professional centres to empower the youth to be financially responsible individuals and develop their interests and abilities to become prospective entrepreneurs and business owners. the central bank also partners with different stakeholders annually to commemorate national and international events, such as the global money week and youth festival, encouraging the youth to learn about money matters and providing networking educational opportunities around financial issues. at this juncture, it is essential to note that effective financial education is about more than just promoting opportunities. it is equally important to raise awareness of customer rights, avoiding indebtedness, the need for the prudent use of financial services, which encompasses the safe and secure use of digital financial services to avoid financial fraud schemes, and the importance of protecting one's financial and personal information, amongst others. the participation of the central bank of seychelles in the annual international fraud awareness week since 2019 is one of the initiatives being implemented to promote anti - fraud awareness and education. i am confident that each country in the region is working hard at implementing similar initiatives and finding ways to design and implement innovative policies that will help the younger generation to navigate longstanding and emerging global challenges, such as the covid - 19 pandemic and geopolitical events that are having spillover effects across the globe thus impacting the livelihoods of everyone including the young people. today's webinar is providing us with an opportunity to take stock of the current level of financial inclusion on the african continent, share expertise and experiences on the implementation of our countries'respective financial inclusion policies, identify gaps and challenges that still exist and

put forth proposals on how we can further advance the financial inclusion agenda, particularly among the youth, including finding ways for greater stakeholder collaboration to achieve this objective. as leaders of the afi network and the regional afpi grouping, let us showcase our commitment to assist in devising an action plan and setting realistic targets that will enable our respective countries and the region to formulate and implement innovative policies that will positively impact the lives of the youth. on this note, i wish you all fruitful deliberations. 2 / 3 bis - central bankers'speeches thank you. 3 / 3 bis - central bankers'speeches