The Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI) Financial Inclusion Data (FID) Working Group and Financial Inclusion Strategy (FIS) Peer Learning Group have set to meet in Tajikistan
AFI members from 42 countries and representatives of international financial institutions have gathered in Dushanbe for the Alliance’s 10th Financial Inclusion Strategy (FIS) Peer Learning Group and 15th Financial Inclusion Data (FID) Working Group Meetings.
These five-day meetings kicked off in Dushanbe o April 24.
Co-hosted by the National Bank of Tajikistan, the working groups began the meetings with a joint session that reportedly showcases Tajikistan’s unique journey towards financial inclusion.
AFI’s Deputy Executive Director Norbert Mumba joined high-level representatives from the National Bank of Tajikistan in welcoming the participants, after which a session on measuring cross- cutting policy concerns was delivered.
NBT head Jamshed Nourmahmadzoda expressed hope that the meetings results would give a new impulse to further expansion of fruitful cooperation within the Alliance for Financial Inclusion.
AFI’s Deputy Executive Director Norbert Mumba, for his part, pointed out Tajikistan’s achievements in the field of financial inclusion, in particular adoption of law on payment services and payment system and the NBT strategy on development of mechanism of protection of rights of consumers of financial services designed for 2017-2019.
The meetings are also featuring speakers from Insight2Impact, United Nations Development Program and Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP).
Following the joint meeting, FID Working Group and FIS Peer Learning Group members entered into detailed discussions on their individual strategies. Among the issues to be covered by the FIS Peer Learning Group are the implementation challenges of National Financial Inclusion Strategies and Peer Reviews on NFIS of Zambia, Uganda and Palestine. The FID Working Group will be examining sex dis-aggregated data, implications for financial inclusion measuring and geospatial mapping for financial inclusion.
The final day of the Working Group meetings will bring both groups together for discussions on Impact Measurement Frameworks for Financial Inclusion and Regulatory Impact Assessment.
The National Bank of Tajikistan has been a full member of the Alliance for Financial Inclusion since December 7, 2011.
The Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI) is a network of financial inclusion policymakers. AFI's core mission is to encourage the adoption of inclusive financial policies in developing nations, to lift 2.5 billion citizens out of poverty. AFI was founded in 2008 as a Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation-funded project, supported by AusAid, in order to advance the development of smart financial inclusion policy in developing and emerging countries. AFI's network has more than 100 institutions from more than 89 member nations.
AFI is headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The Executive Director is Alfred Hannig of Germany, who has held the post since 2008. The organization is financed by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and administered on behalf of its members by the German Technical Corporation and is based in Thailand.
