accepted test of quality in banking policy, it will, i am sure, provide a more solid foundation for promoting sustainable, equitable, and inclusive growth in the region. now let me take this opportunity to warmly welcome experts from the african development bank, the bank for international settlements, the imf and standard bank. your contribution to our proceedings is eagerly awaited. you have done so much over the years, as our major advisers and development partners, to help us steer our countries from the darker days of the past, into the fresh light of a future rich with promise. for africa is now emerging as the up - and - coming global centre of attention, a continent on the cusp of a major breakthrough. i have no doubt you can enrich our discussions on the general aspects of financial inclusion, as well as on the more technical issues of monetary policy and financial stability and their relevance to inclusiveness. bis central bankers ’ speeches the general manager of the bank for international settlements, jaime caruana, will give a special address on the basle process and the global aspects of financial inclusion. he is very committed to the financial inclusion agenda of the g - 20 which has been germinating since 2008, in the wake of the global crisis. we thank him for his interest in the work of the aacb. we take this opportunity to also thank him for hosting at his headquarters in basel an annual round table for the benefit of african governors, with selected peers from elsewhere. this new development agenda pulls together the policy objectives of financial stability, financial inclusion and consumer protection, to overcome the clear shortcomings of the traditional framework of financial liberalisation. jaime caruana will no doubt brief us on the work of the two subcommittees of the g - 20 on smes and on consumer access through innovation. commissioner maruping will share with us the african union ’ s perspective on our work. tomorrow at the assembly of governors, we will have the president of the african development bank, donald kaberuka, who will talk to us about the africa 50 fund and how it can help to bridge the infrastructure gap now hampering faster growth and better quality of life on the continent. and the secretary general of the islamic financial services board, jaseem ahmed, will bring his inputs later into our discussions by sharing with us his views on islamic finance and financial inclusion. i must express my thanks to those organisations who have partnered with us to organise this event, and given us such fulsome support

i am delighted to have you with us here in our small island. i have no doubt that our meeting will be very stimulating and generate lots of ideas on how finance could promote inclusive growth. organising this meeting in this small island - state has been quite a challenge for us. i must therefore express my personal thanks to the aacb, the organising team at the bank, the office of the pm and the various agencies involved in the logistic arrangements for your reception. and i must add my personal thanks to the head of my office at the bank for coordinating the whole thing. i wish you a pleasant stay in mauritius. i hope that our meeting will help to promote greater innovation and make a contribution to stimulate economic growth and prosperity in this great continent. in this way, we can validate the perennial and evergreen character and continued pertinence of the famous remark of the roman historian, pliny the elder, who observed “ there is always something new out of africa! ” bis central bankers ’ speeches