Banjul,
The Gambia December 10, 2019: Financial inclusion is a critical enabler to
reducing poverty and boosting shared prosperity. The World Bank, working in
conjunction with the Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI), and the United
Nation Capital Development Fund(UNCDF) will support the Central Bank of The
Gambia as it sets off on leading the elaboration of a National Financial
Inclusion Strategy (NFIS).
A
key objective of the NFIS is to provide a roadmap for expanding financial
inclusion in The Gambia. A three-day sensitisation workshop opened Monday at
the Ocean Bay Hotel that brought together participants from different
professional backgrounds to share their perspectives and inputs for the
conceptualisation of the NFIS.
The
workshop aims to raise awareness amongst the stakeholders on the importance of
financial inclusion to economic and social development including the widespread
use of safe, affordable, and convenient formal financial services. It also aims at demonstrating the critical
role that the NFIS can play in ensuring a strategic, coherent, and measurable
approach in advancing financial inclusion.
“Financial
inclusion can contribute to sustaining economic welfare and to reducing
poverty. It also supports economic, monetary and financial stability by making
savings and investments decisions more efficient, enhancing the transmission of
monetary policy and facilitating the functioning of the economy,” said Dr.
Seeku A.K. Jaabi, the first deputy governor of the Central Bank of The Gambia
in his opening remarks.
Achieving
greater financial inclusion requires a deliberate and coordinated approach to
identify relevant obstacles and opportunities, leverage linkages across
financial and non-financial policy areas, and align the efforts by multiple
stakeholders.
“The
World Bank technical assistance project will assist with providing supply-side
data diagnostics to drafting and launching the NFIS, as well as
operationalising key components of the strategy,” said Elene Imnadze, the World
Bank Resident Representative to The Gambia. “We are excited to work with the
authorities, key stakeholders and development partners as the country takes
first critical steps towards greater financial inclusion,” she added.
The
ultimate objective of enhancing financial inclusion is to improve the welfare
of Gambian citizens and to contribute to the country’s socio-economic
development. “Financially included population is key to reducing income
inequality and poverty as well as boosting productivity and growth that could
accelerate the realisation of The Gambia’s aspirations to become a
middle-income country in the not too distant future,” noted Mr. Alagie Fadera,
the director of Planning, Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs.
