njuguna ndung ’ u : mefmi fellows department programme speech by prof njuguna ndung ’ u, governor of the central bank of kenya and chairman of the mefmi executive committee, during the 2007 mefmi fellows graduation & accreditation ceremony, harare, 31 july 2007. * * * your excellencies, governor reserve bank of zimbabwe, dr. gideon gono, executive director of mefmi, dr. ellias ngalande, distinguished invited guests, graduated and accredited fellows, ladies and gentlemen, 1. it is indeed a great honour and privilege for me to be here and witness this memorable occasion as we confer mefmi fellows in recognition of their hard work. congratulations to you all the graduated and accredited fellows! this occasion is especially memorable because of the presence of our distinguished guests ; the financial cooperating partners. your excellencies once more, you are very welcome to the mefmi family. ladies and gentlemen : allow me, on behalf of the board and indeed on my own behalf, to thank you for accepting to come to bear testimony to one of the significant outputs of mefmi. let me assure you of mefmi ’ s commitment in pursuing its objectives and ideals of building sustainable capacity in the region as affirmed by its leadership. i wish also to acknowledge the great hospitality the institute continues to receive from the governor of the reserve bank of zimbabwe, dr. gideon gono that enables us to convene effectively in harare. your presence here today, honourable governor, further demonstrates the very commitment you have for the intended success of mefmi. 2. ladies and gentlemen : mefmi fellows development programme was conceived as a flagship to address the capacity needs of the region in terms of the development of local and regional expertise. specifically the programme was set up to meet the following objectives : ( i ) to develop a critical mass of regional expertise in the priority areas of sovereign debt, macroeconomic and financial management, as a means to gaining sustainable and self - generating capacity ; ( ii ) to create sustainable regional capacity for delivery of mefmi capacity building products and services to answer the concerns about sustainability of the institute ’ s activities ; and ( iii ) to create regional capacity for complementing mefmi ’ s capacity building efforts at in - house level in mefmi member states ’ institutions. the fellows who have graduated today have gone through an intensive programme of customized training, professional exposure to renowned institutions

cooperation among regulatory authorities is essential. as regulators, we need to encourage and support transformation and innovation through better regulation instead of looking for avenues of more regulation. as per sir andrew crockett, better regulation is a regime that : can readily identify weaknesses and emerging vulnerabilities ; is capable of analyzing risks and adequately addressing pricing risks ; bis central bankers ’ speeches provides appropriate incentives ( penalties ) to induce prudent behavior in the market place ; but also to add in our case, the regulator is an agent of market development. better regulation encourages innovation and strong institutions to develop in the economy. cross border banking has its opportunities and challenges. as regulators, it is in our mutual interest to ensure the soundness and stability of our respective financial sectors. we should therefore play our rightful role in ensuring effective supervision of banking entities operating in our respective jurisdictions. we should also ensure that any systemic risk that may be posed by one bank operating in another jurisdiction is mitigated and promptly brought to the attention of the home regulator. the mou which we are signing today will thus enable us share a wide range of supervisory information on a more defined framework. ladies and gentlemen ; both mauritius and kenya are leading international hubs. mauritius is a renowned international financial centre for its offshore financial services. likewise, kenya, because of its leadership in mobile money transfer services, is now referred to as the silicon valley of africa. we can both learn from each other and share our respective experiences so as to increase the competitiveness of our markets as well as our financial institutions. the signing of this mou will therefore set forth a pragmatic approach for cooperation and the sharing of supervisory information. we accordingly look forward to building on the existing good relations between the central bank of kenya and the bank of mauritius and to a future of enhanced supervisory cooperation. i now invite governor bheenick to make some remarks before we proceed to sign the mou. thank you. bis central bankers ’ speeches