njuguna ndung ’ u : financial sector performance in kenya remarks by prof njuguna ndung ’ u, governor of the central bank of kenya, on the occasion of the silver jubiliee celebrations for family bank limited, nairobi, 22 june 2009. * * * your excellency honourable mwai kibaki, president and commander - in - chief of the armed forces of the republic of kenya ; honourable uhuru kenyatta, deputy prime minister and minister for finance ; mr. titus muya, chairman, family bank ltd. ; mr. peter kinyanjui, chief executive, family bank ltd. ; distinguished guests ; ladies and gentlemen : i am delighted to be here this morning to join with family bank in celebrating twenty five years of providing financial services to kenyans. allow me at the onset to appreciate the presence of his excellency the president. i also wish to salute the board, management and staff of family bank for successfully serving kenyans for the last twenty five years. for most of the twenty five years of its ’ existence, family bank operated as a building society with a microfinance focus. in the last two years, the institution has operated as a commercial bank and has registered a commendable performance. in 2008, the institution recorded a profit before tax of kshs. 530. 7 million and opened 9 branches countrywide increasing its ’ branch network to 43. this is a sterling performance, but there still remains room for further expansion and improvement. your excellency the banking sector continues to exhibit resilience in the face of various local and global turbulences. the sector has also continued to grow and now consists of 43 commercial banks, 2 mortgage finance houses and 123 foreign exchange bureaus. the first deposit taking microfinance institution was also launched last week. allow me to mention some indicators of the financial sector performance that painted a rosy picture in the last 12 months to april 2009 : • the sector ’ s assets increased by 12 % from kshs. 1. 09 trillion in april 2008 to kshs. 1. 23 trillion at the end of april 2009 as banks continued to expand their lending portfolio. • deposits increased from kshs. 880bn in april 2008 to kshs. 940 bn on the back of deposit mobilization and expansion of branch networks by banks. • the capital adequacy ratio stood at 19. 8 % above the statutory minimum of 12 %. this is an indicator that the sector has

as they battle the scourge of climate change and meeting foundational development needs. early green shots can be seen in innovative financing mechanisms that have been developed in availing clean solar energy to rural households in kenya, uganda and tanzania ( m - kopa ) and government mobilizing micro - amounts to fund development in kenya ( m - akiba ). african banks are also committing to global sustainable finance initiatives. but much more is required to scale up sustainable financing in africa. since 2017, i have been the patron of the green bonds programme kenya, a public - private partnership whose key remit is to develop a transparent, accountable and verifiable green bond market. in 2019, we launched the regulatory framework for kenya ’ s bond market and in september issued the first green bond of usd 45 million. this joins other issues in africa of under usd. 2 billion out of an estimated global green bond issuance of usd. 167. 3 billion. how then do we scale up sustainable finance across africa? i am delighted to note that the un hosted an africa day on october 10, 2019 during the annual general meeting of the international network of financial centres for sustainability ( fc4s ) in geneva, switzerland. the fc4s network hosted by the un is a partnership of global financial centres that seeks to promote the expansion of sustainable finance. this is achieved through sharing of experiences, research and technical support. so far, four leading african financial centres, cairo, casablanca, lagos and nairobi have joined the network. a regional programme will be launched in geneva, through which african centres can leverage on global knowledge to scale up sustainable finance in their respective jurisdictions. though this is a welcome move, africa must customize its sustainable finance vision to fit its own local circumstances. let us leverage on the fc4s, be guided by the paris climate agreement, but we should think ‘ global while acting local. ’ the time for africa to act is now, the effects of climate change continue to be harsher as a burgeoning youth population seeks opportunities to prosper. african economies need to be inclusive and resilient. the green shots are evident but we need to water them to grow into the tree that shades the continent. drawing from a japanese fable, the best time to plant a tree that matures in 400 years is today, the next best time is tomorrow. the writer is the governor of the central bank of kenya