Advancements made by Seychelles in the digital financial space were one of the topics of discussion between the executive director for the Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI), Alfred Hannig, and President Wavel Ramkalawan.
Hannig, who met with the President on Friday at State House, told reporters that discussions with the President revolved around the digital economy, the objectives of the country, and some of the progress it has made in this field.
“The President was also interested to hear what other countries are doing in this space. So we were discussing a little bit of the benchmarks that Seychelles looking at, but also how Seychelles can also provide knowledge to other countries in the network,” said Hannig.
Sharing his observation on how far Seychelles has reached in the field, he outlined that the island nation has made major strides in terms of digitisation, striving for the implementation of the digital economy.
“I can actually say that compared to many other countries in the network, this small island economy is pretty advanced, especially as you are already moving towards digitisation of the basic services and this is of course very important for the poor population because technology can be an equaliser,” said Hannig.
The courtesy call on the President by AFI’s executive director comes after the meeting of the 12th African Financial Inclusion Policy Initiative (AfPI) and the 8th Pacific Islands Regional Initiative in Seychelles this week. More than 140 policymakers attending from 40 countries were present.
The AFI network is a group of central banks from 84 countries that meet regularly to exchange on financial inclusion policy initiatives. This is the first convergence of the African and Pacific regional groupings of the AFI network.
The meeting in Seychelles was the first convergence of the African and Pacific regional groupings of the AFI network. (Central Bank of Seychelles) Photo License: CC-BY
Under the theme of “Rising above Global uncertainty – Pathways through Inclusive Innovation,” participants from the two regions got to discuss how policymakers can use innovation to increase inclusion in times of uncertainty.
The event, which was hosted by the Central Bank of Seychelles (CBS), provided a forum for the development of tangible suggestions and action plans for developing the two regions’ resilient, inclusive, and policy-driven financial services ecosystems.
When she addressed the Leaders’ Roundtable on Thursday, the CBS governor, Caroline Abel, also the current chairperson of AfPI, highlighted Seychelles’ dual membership of the two groupings, noting that geographical locations should not limit associations.
“Despite the geographic differences between our two regions, we share similar concerns and challenges. Disruptions to supply chains; inflation; climate change adaptation and adoption of green financing; economic slowdown due to the pandemic; the need to enhance consumer
protection; I could continue with the list, to which I know as leaders, we can all relate. However, the theme for this meeting calls upon us to be active participants and propose tangible solutions that will build the resilience of our economies,” said Abel.
Source: Seychelles News Agency