Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. BANKING and financial experts have called for sustainable and innovative solutions to drive financial inclusion.
The call came during the ongoing Annual National Financial Inclusion Conference hosted by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ). It is being held under the theme, Unlocking Potential: Financial Innovation for Inclusive Growth.
The annual event brings together a broad spectrum of stakeholders to discuss all matters of financial inclusion, which include non-governmental organisations, development partners, fintech companies, and regional and global financial inclusion thought leaders.
Violet Ndoro, RBZ’s deputy director of Bank Supervision, yesterday said the conference “marks the culmination of the diverse financial inclusion initiatives that your respective institutions have been implementing throughout the year, and it provides a timely opportunity to reflect, to recalibrate, and to commit to our collective financial inclusion goals”.
She added that the call to action was for everyone and urged stakeholders to engage with purpose, contribute boldly and co-create solutions that brought inclusive solutions to the communities.
“I eagerly anticipate the key outcomes and actionable recommendations from this conference, which will propel the implementation of our National Financial Inclusion Strategy 2 and the incoming National Financial Inclusion 3,” Ndoro said.
“We reaffirm that building inclusive and sustainable financial systems is our collective responsibility.”
Nomcebo Hadebe, head of Alliance Financial Inclusion, said there was a need to include everyone.
“And also, we have to not leave anybody out, and we know very well that especially in Africa, we are hard hit by climate change and environmental degradation because most of us are communities in the rural areas; they are the most vulnerable group, and this leads to social inequity and tensions, and that’s disabling what we have already done in terms of financial stability,” she said.
She said financial inclusion was the most important aspect for economic development
and urged stakeholders to also look at the ways that protect consumers.
Bank of Namibia principal economist responsible for Financial Sector Development, Sesilia Nekwaya, said Namibia had come up with innovative ways towards financial inclusion due to the change in the economic environment and the widening of the informal sector economy.
“Now, this taught us that consumers are ready; they are willing, from our engagements with them, to use digital financial services as long as they meet three criteria,” she said.
“They should be affordable, we should ensure that they can be trusted, and most of them indicated that they wanted a central bank-backed instant payment solution.”
Nekwaya said such a system, which is currently being developed in Namibia and is set to go live in February 2026, would help boost trust in the system from those who are financially excluded.
“So that taught us that we are not pushing for a cashless society; we are pushing for a cash-light society, but cash remains in the game.”
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