bank of zambia keynote speech launch of the 2019 world savings day by dr denny h. kalyalya, governor, bank of zambia intercontinental hotel, lusaka 31st october 2019, lusaka, zambia keynote speech by dr denny kalyalya, governor, bank of zambia at the 2019 world savings day event on 31st october 2019 at the intercontinental hotel, lusaka the chief executive - securities and exchange commission the registrar and ceo – pensions and insurance authority the chairperson – bankers association of zambia senior government officials here present members of the diplomatic corps chief executive officers and senior private sector representatives representatives from education institutions members of the media here present pupils and students here present, and may i just say, distinguished ladies and gentlemen i am delighted to officiate at this official launch of the 2019 world savings day under the theme : ‘ be money smart : savings give life a lift! ’. as you may be aware, the world savings day is a global event celebrated to promote awareness on the importance of savings. in line with the national strategy on financial education of 2012, zambia has observed the world savings day since 2014. distinguished ladies and gentlemen, this year ’ s world savings day commemoration presents yet another opportunity for consumers to learn about financial products as well as how to select and assess appropriate financial products to maximise their usage for key life events. following the launch of the national financial inclusion strategy in 2017, new informal financial service providers have emerged, such as, village banks and savings groups in both the rural and urban areas. as both formal and informal financial service providers are agents of financial inclusion it is important for us, the regulators, to seek effective ways of linking the two types of players with a view to reducing informality as we expand financial inclusion. distinguished guests, in recognition of the importance of formal financial inclusion in supporting economic growth, the bank of zambia is collaborating with savenet, to keynote speech by dr denny kalyalya, governor, bank of zambia at the 2019 world savings day event on 31st october 2019 at the intercontinental hotel, lusaka develop channels to link informal savings groups to formal financial services providers. according to savenet data, at the end of 2018 there were 15, 700 savings groups in zambia, with cumulative savings amounting to k53. 1 million. this points to a good opportunity for the formal financial service providers to mobilise deposits. in this regard, it has been observed that a number of regulated financial service providers and mobile money operators have already started designing products aimed at

tapping into this market. it is hoped that this move will expedite the transition of informal groupings into the formal financial sector and enable more people gain access to a wider range of quality and affordable financial services. i want to stress here, as one of our colleagues noted last year ’ s commemoration that financial service providers have to provide the products and services that the people want and not what providers think they want. distinguished guests, recognising that financial exclusion is more prevalent in rural areas, the bank of zambia has adopted various initiatives to improve rural financial inclusion in line with the national rural finance policy and strategy of 2012. these initiatives include : 1. leveraging digital financial services for general financial transactions ; and 2. facilitating expansion of general services access points network of health, education, and agricultural organisations into financial access points through partnership and government support. in line with this year ’ s world savings day theme : ‘ be money smart : savings give life a lift! ’, i urge members of the public to select and demand appropriate formal financial products for their key life events, such as, births, education and health, and to be aware of the obligations and responsibilities associated with the products. i encourage financial service providers to take time to explain clearly and simply the terms and conditions of financial products so that consumers can understand their rights and obligations. keynote speech by dr denny kalyalya, governor, bank of zambia at the 2019 world savings day event on 31st october 2019 at the intercontinental hotel, lusaka distinguished ladies and gentlemen, may i take this opportunity to congratulate all the individuals and institutions that will receive financial literacy awards for making a difference in the financial literacy campaigns nation - wide. distinguished ladies and gentlemen, let me end by acknowledging all the institutions and individuals that have joined in the commemoration of this year ’ s world savings day. in particular, i wish to thank the pensions and insurance authority ; securities and exchange commission ; bankers association of zambia ; the ministry of finance ; rural finance expansion programme ; the german savings banks foundation for international cooperation ; financial sector deepening zambia ; ngos and all the public as well as private sector organisations that have continued to support the stepped up national financial literacy campaigns since 2012. i thank you and god bless us all!