Sisi arrives at venue of int'l conf. on financial inclusion in Sharm

SHARM EL SHEIKH - 14 September 2017: President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi arrived on Thursday at the venue of the largest international conference on financial inclusion in Sharm el Sheikh.

More than 94 states and 119 international institutions will take part in the two-day
gathering.

Prime Minister Sherif Ismail will deliver a speech during the opening session alongside Central Bank of Egypt Governor Tareq Amer and Bank of Tanzania Governor Benno Ndulu, who is the Chair of the Board of Directors of the Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI).

The talks are expected to tackle means of amalgamating public and private sectors, diversity as a way for realizing financial inclusion, reducing poverty rates and upping the gross domestic product. Participants will tackle experiences of participating states in this regard.

The talks will also address regional mechanisms for reducing risks and means of benefiting from modern technology and digital financial services, especially in small and medium sized enterprises.

The talks will address diversity and Financial Inclusion and means of balancing the formal and informal sector.

The talks will also bring to the fore international, regional and countries' perspectives of balancing the formal and informal sector, showing different approaches that have been implemented with a view to share key policy and regulatory lessons.

During the conference, Egypt will showcase its financial inclusion experience, especially with regard to micro, small and medium sized enterprises.

On the fringe of the conference, the Financial Inclusion in the Arab Region Initiative (FIAR) will be inked.

Financial inclusion means that individuals and businesses have access to useful and affordable financial products and services that meet their needs – transactions, payments, savings, credit and insurance – delivered in a responsible and sustainable way.

The conference - sponsored by the presidency and the cabinet - is organized by the Central Bank of Egypt in tandem with the Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI).

The alliance organizes a financial inclusion conference annually. The first was held in Kenya in 2009. Similar gatherings were held in Indonesia, Mexico, South Africa, Malaysia, Mozambique and Fiji.

The Alliance for Financial Inclusion empowers policymakers to increase access to quality financial services for the poorest populations.

The AFI was founded on the idea that a global knowledge exchange platform was key to expanding and improving financial inclusion policy. Over the years, the AFI network, with the support its funders and partners, has invested deeply in this platform, and data shows the model is delivering tangible results.

AFI is led by its members and partners, central banks and other financial regulatory institutions from developing countries. AFI’s members serve to give voice to the opportunities and challenges facing the unbanked. The network includes members from more than 90 countries working together to accelerate the adoption of proven and innovative financial inclusion policy solutions with the ultimate aim of making financial services more accessible to the world’s unbanked.