help to create credit histories for financial market participants that may serve as alternative to collateral. message to women entrepreneurs and women ’ s organisations i am very pleased with your initiative to engage the central bank. you should equally engage the financial service providers individually and through their associations to make them appreciate the needs of the women entrepreneurs. you should facilitate training in assertiveness for your members and to take advantage of all available financial literacy education. you should encourage a good credit culture ( which is already embraced by many women ). you must aspire to grow from the informal to the formal and from smes to large corporations. you must not just wait for the targeted funds ( which have a role to play ) also seek to access other relevant products in the market. seek to be informed. make yourselves visible. message for banks and other financial service providers • explore the women ’ s market segment as a viable and profitable segment ; • create innovate products that respond to the needs and wants of the women ’ s market segment ; • find new ways of mitigating risk ; • promote greater workplace diversity and promote more women into senior management positions ; and • assist women to be more financially literate. on our part, bank of zambia will continue to create an enabling environment through policies, legislation and regulation that facilitate greater financial inclusion of women. chairperson, once again, allow me to applaud the sponsors, led by zafwib, for successfully organizing this important event on the month of the woman entrepreneur for the 8th consecutive year as well as for holding this year ’ s annual conference. as bank of bis central bankers ’ speeches zambia, we are delighted to play a positive role as it is a unique opportunity to build relationships amongst various stakeholders. let me also, in this regard, implore participants to visit the various stands in the financial exhibition and engage the financial service providers for additional insights into the theme for this year ’ s month of the woman entrepreneur which is : “ accelerating women ’ s economic empowerment – key to job and wealth creation ” under the sub theme : “ financial inclusion. ” lastly, i wish to sincerely thank lee anne singh, a woman entrepreneur for graciously providing the exhibition tent free of charge. i would also like to thank the banks and other financial service providers that have responded at short notice to mount the financial exhibition. take full advantage of their presence here. as i conclude, i wish you all the very best in your deliberations over the next two days, and

by world renowned rating agencies standards and poor and fitch, as well as, the reclassification of zambia as a middle income country by the world bank. the rating and reclassification requires the central bank, the zambian business community and government to continue enhancing the financial system to ensure that it is robust and reaches the unbanked. ladies and gentlemen, the product that is being launched today, demonstrates the way businesses are evolving to bring forth financial solutions that benefit customers. this service provides an important avenue for harnessing resources for financing development in our bis central bankers ’ speeches communities as airtel will partner with various stakeholders in different sectors of the economy. this will further enhance the development of the telecoms sector and its contribution to our economy. therefore, i wish to commend airtel for introducing this product which is expected to contribute towards bridging the gap in financial service provision by catering for customers in remote areas who have no access to banking services. the product is expected to extend the financial inclusion agenda in that it will be far reaching thereby impacting positively on the zambian public. i am also informed that the product is expected to reduce the use of cash in the economy. as you may be aware, the bank of zambia has been working towards reducing the use of cash in the economy by encouraging the use of alternative electronic means of payment such as the product being launched today. it is initiatives and innovations like airtel money that will make it possible for the general public to have alternative methods of transacting other than cash and other transnational payment instruments. to this end, i wish to mention that the bank of zambia with other stakeholders is in the process of putting in place a national switch that will further enhance initiatives such as this one whose launch we are witnessing today. ladies and gentlemen, the bank of zambia will continue to support any efforts and innovations by the private sector that extend the provision of financial services to the majority of our citizens. i look forward to seeing the product being launched today live up to the expectations of providing a safe, efficient, secure and reliable service to the zambian people. i hope that all customers will enjoy using the airtel money service. with these few remarks, i wish to declare airtel money officially launched and wish it all the success. thank you. bis central bankers ’ speeches