, accessible, and affordable to all citizens in a safe and transparent manner to support inclusive growth through a multistakeholder approach. developments so far 4. financial inclusion journey of the country can be traced back to the 1950s when the focus was on channelizing of credit to the neglected sectors of the economy and weaker sections of the population. this was followed by various initiatives over the years such as expansion of branch network, introduction of priority sector lending ( psl ), launch of lead bank scheme, promotion of self help groups ( shgs ), joint liability groups ( jlgs ), implementation of business correspondents ( bc ) model, among others. the brick and mortar branches, complemented by the bc model, have improved the reach of the banking system across the country. the spread and reach of financial inclusion has indeed been exponential in recent years. 1 https : / / m. rbi. org. in / scripts / publicationreportdetails. aspx? urlpage = & id = 1154 2 https : / / www. rbi. org. in / scripts / publicationreportdetails. aspx? urlpage = & id = 1156 5. the evolution and adoption of technology has led to massive improvement in deepening of digital financial services. the jan dhan, aadhaar and mobile ( jam ) eco system has brought about a major shift in the universe of financial inclusion. further, several initiatives have been taken for the creation of enabling digital infrastructure at the ground level so as to universalise digital payments in a convenient, safe, secure and affordable manner. given the latent potential of harnessing value at the bottom of the pyramid, we have seen a plethora of players emerging in the field, ranging from traditional banks, niche financial entities such as payments banks, small finance banks, micro finance institutions ( mfis ) and promising fintech companies. 6. in order to have a planned and structured approach to financial inclusion, banks have been advised by rbi to put in place financial inclusion plans ( fips ) consisting of achievements against several parameters3. substantial progress has been made with respect to these parameters, details of which are given in the reserve bank ’ s annual report released in may 2021. 7. greater focus is now being given to addressing the vulnerable segments of the economy and population, while paying attention to consumer protection and enhancing capacity of customers, so that responsible and sustainable use of financial services can be achieved. the introduction

access to financial services ; and that the informal sector in zambia played a significant role in the provision of financial services catering for 11 % of the population. distinguished participants : an important point to note is the fact that the majority of those who had no access to financial services are the rural poor, with women being more disadvantaged than men. these are worrisome results, which call for concerted efforts by all stakeholders to expand the frontiers of financial services. in furtherance of the objectives of the fsdp, the boz strategic plan for 2008 - 2011 has made financial inclusion as one of its key strategic objectives. government has also set a financial access target of 50 percent by the end of 2009 under the performance assessment framework ( paf ). the holding of this conference is therefore, consistent with our aspirations to increase levels of financial access in the country. as earlier alluded, the aim of this forum was to bring together practitioners and regulators of microfinance to learn from each other in order deepen and broaden financial services provision. in this regard, the forum has a number of eminent persons who will share with us their unique experiences. ladies and gentlemen : this fia programme is customized and among the issues that will be addressed include the following : 1. emerging best practice in microfinance ; 2. self - help group models for microfinance, which may be viable for countries in our region ; 3. microfinance product development knowledge and risk management strategies ; and 4. specific micro - credit practices for agricultural - related businesses, which is relevant for most our countries ’ strategies to diversify into agriculture. distinguished participants : we consider the timing of this workshop appropriate given the impact of the on - going global financial crises. i therefore, call upon all of you to take advantage of this unique opportunity to learn and share experiences, so that we can come up with efficient and effective ways of advancing financial inclusion in our respective countries. ladies and gentlemen : at this point, kindly allow me to call upon our guest of honour, honourable ms chileshe kapwepwe, mp, the deputy minister of finance and national planning to deliver the key note address and to officially open this conference. honorable minister sir!