to the crisis. they have underpinned the rapid scaling up of support to vulnerable groups, by extending the reach of available social safety nets and providing new ways for mutual support within families and communities. in a few short months, covid - 19 has dramatically accelerated digitalization, achieving what we thought would take decades. in kenya, banks have enhanced the use of digital channels during the pandemic, to minimize the health risk and support stay - at - home protocols. before the pandemic, about 90 percent of bank transactions were conducted outside branches. since the onset of the pandemic, this has accelerated to over 94 percent of transactions. most notably, over 67 percent of transactions are now conducted on mobile phones, up from 55 percent before the pandemic. in rwanda, charges on all mobile money transactions were waived on march 19, 2020, for three months. by the end of april, the weekly value of mobile money transactions had increased by 450 percent. we are reminded of words by lenin, “ there are decades where nothing happens, and there are weeks where decades happen. ” as we sketch the post - covid future, digitalization will be at the heart of everything we do, and turning back to today ’ s theme, sustainability will be indispensable for shared prosperity to be assured. sustainability can be usefully captured in the common “ 3ps ” definition : people, purpose and planet. the “ 3ps ” essentially respond to the question why corporations exist and what should be their heart and soul? covid - 19 has underscored a great truth — that corporations cannot prosper while the society they serve and the environment they operate in are endangered. simply put, the resilience of corporations is intertwined with the sustainability imperative. but is there a yardstick of success? the “ 3ps ” nexus is encapsulated in the united nations ’ sustainable development goals ( sdgs ), another core focus of this fintech week. as you are aware, the sdgs are global targets that were adopted by the un in 2015 aimed at achieving shared prosperity in a sustainable world by 2030. in the last few months, covid - 19 has adversely affected implementation of the sdgs particularly in health and education, wiping out years of progress towards the sdgs. a lot more needs to be done to get back on track. in november 2018, the unsg set up a task force on digital financing of the sdgs ( task

central bank of kenya the technical university of kenya ( tuk ) 1 international tuk - sbms international conference st rethinking economic and business sustainability in disruptive times keynote address by dr. patrick njoroge governor, central bank of kenya thursday, november 25, 2021 as prepared for delivery good morning! i am pleased to join you at the inaugural technical university of kenya ( tuk ), school of business and management studies international conference. let me at the outset express my gratitude for the invite. the theme of the conference — rethinking economic and business sustainaibility in disruptive times — is timely, as we reflect on the challenges and opportunities that the coronavirus ( covid - 19 ) pandemic has brought to the fore. importantly, how will governments and businesses build on the lessons from the pandemic, and thereby enhance their agility to grow and thrive in a dynamic environment? i note the wide array of papers to be presented over the next two days, that will enrich the outcomes of the conference. the pandemic has upended lives and livelihoods while fundamentally changing enonomies and businesses. in kenya, a robust response from the government and private sector has served us well in containing the pandemic and ensuring business continuity. the economy is now on a steady recovery path, while the financial sector has been resilient in supporting businesses and households. we must however remain vigilant as covid is an enemy that attacks with stealth, with devastating consequences. tellingly, we have seen in recent weeks a resurgence of the virus in europe and parts of the united states, inspite of their high rates of vaccination against covid - 19. coming back to the theme of the conference, what has changed over the last one and a half years with the pandemic? and how do we rethink economic and business sustainability in disruptive times? in venturing to answer these questions, i will first highlight three recent trends in the business landscape. first, is the dominance of bigtechs. the pandemic has been characterized by accelerated digitization that enabled keeping the lights on for essential services including finance, education and health. digital payment rails for instance in kenya, rwanda, ghana and other african countries were a critical platform for official and personal transfers to the vulnerable segments of our population. more broadly, in the wake of covid - 19 containment measures, global technology platforms ( bigtechs ) offering information