this is at a time when huge resources are required for implementation of the sustainable development goals ( sdgs ) as well as the african union commission ’ s 2063 agenda and individual national goals. but as these traditional public funding decline, private financial flows have grown — from 63 percent of total external resources in 2002 - 06 to over 70 percent in 2010 - 14. for the african governments to achieve the noble aspirations enshrined in the sdgs, and the au agenda into realities on the ground, they will need to adopt innovative ways to leverage on the rising private investment to fill the large projected financing gap. this forum ’ s focus is on impact investment in the context of the agricultural sector ; and this is a sector whose importance in our economies cannot be over - emphasized. apart from its gdp contribution, critical is the high concentration of the poor and those who are financially excluded in rural areas. many of us engage in agriculture even as we live our lives in the city. most of us, let ’ s be honest, plan to retire to a life of agriculture, as many have done before us. the efficiency of agriculture is thus of vital, and personal, importance to us. of more importance to central banks is managing the volatility of food prices. concerns about price volatility have a huge effect on business decisions and investments. modernizing agriculture is critical to managing this risk and finance is at the centre. despite the great strides made by the african banking sector in digital financial services, the typical offer for financial products and services for the actors in the agricultural sector has been limited. most agricultural investments, and impact enterprises, in particular, find it challenging to obtain capital from the commercial banking sector due to a number of constraints. although impact investments are identified today as constituting one of the more promising approaches to the funding of inclusive and green businesses, the field of impact investing is also relatively young. as such, many undertakings have not had time to mature and demonstrate results. there is also a lack of awareness and understanding among banking practitioners on the peculiarities of impact businesses. so, what strides has kenya made towards developing market - based solutions to addressing environmental and social challenges? the kenya bankers association ( kba ) and the nairobi securities exchange ( nse ) partnered with market players to fast - track the kenya green bonds programme. kenya ’ s green finance initiative was strengthened during the united nations conference on trade and development ( unctad ) that took place in nairobi in july 2016.

sector such as mobile banking, agent banking and credit information sharing are pegged on effective awareness and sensitisation of all the players. the central bank has over the past few years increased its level of interaction with the public. this has enabled us to explain our role in the economy especially the ongoing initiatives aimed at creating a more stable and efficient financial system as well as increasing the level of financial access by the kenyan public. i encourage each one of you to visit the central bank ’ s website, which has been greatly enriched to enhance dissemination of information to kenyans. in conclusion, ladies and gentlemen, i am informed that the participants in this workshop will be certified as master trainers in financial education. in this regard, i urge all of you to take the workshop seriously and to disseminate the knowledge gained throughout your organisations and to the public your organisations interact with. it is only through dissemination of the knowledge that you will acquire over the next one week that the financial sector and the economy as a whole will benefit. ladies and gentlemen : being cognisant of the intensive training programme ahead of you, i shall not extend my remarks any further. i therefore take this opportunity to wish all of you an enjoyable and exciting workshop. with these few remarks, ladies and gentlemen, it is now my honour and pleasure to declare this training workshop officially opened. thank you and god bless you all.