(First picture, left) Mr. Thomas T. Essel, AFRACA Secretary General interacting with Mr. Mohamed Fikrat, Group Managing Director, Crédit Agricole du Maroc during the Exposure visit. (Second picture, right) Group photo of participants and during the International Exposure visit in Rabat, Morocco, 2-6 October, 2023 The International Exposure Visit on Digital Finance and Financial Inclusion, organized by Crédit Agricole du Maroc (CAM) offered participants a unique world of digital finance and its crucial role in financial inclusion. Held in the picturesque...
PHOTO: From left: Ms. Marie Goreth Ndayishimiye, Incoming Chairperson, Central Africa Sub-Region and Second Deputy Governor, Banque Republic du Burundi (BRB); Incoming AFRACA Chair, Mr. Dieudonne Fikiri Alimasi, Deputy Governor, Banque Centrale du Congo, BCC; Dr, Jesimen Chipika, outgoing AFRACA Chairperson and Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, Mr. Thomas T. Essel, AFRACA Secretary General and Mr. David Ashiagbor, Financial Sector Specialist, African Development Bank Group during the 22nd AFRACA General Assembly hosted by Banque Centrale du Congo at Fleuve...
Greetings from the AFRACA Secretariat. I wish to start the year by extending our heartfelt New Year greetings and expressing sincere appreciation for your support in strengthening the Secretariat. As we enter 2024, I just wanted to pause and take a moment to reflect on some of the key issues that dominated our space in 2023. To start, there was heightened activity on climate action in 2023 following key events that took place to discuss climate change issues. African Heads of State...
AFRACA is a member of the Consortium in the Horizon Europe research project, entitled ‘INtegrated and Circular Technologies for Sustainable city region FOOD systems in Africa’ (INCiTiS-FOOD). INCiTiS-FOOD aims to improve food and nutrition security (FNS) in African city regions. With the expansion of urban areas, the distance to rural sites for food production for urban dwellers is increasing, leading to increased costs of transportation and carbon footprints. Farming in urban areas will ensure that food is close to the consumers,...
The important role of financial cooperatives and other forms of cooperatives in the rural banking system is increasingly gaining prominence. The Government of Kenya underscores cooperatives as key pillars in its Bottom-up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA). The week-long strategic workshop was convened by the Presidents’ Economic Transformation Secretariat (PETS) in collaboration with the newly formed State Department for Cooperatives and International Labour Organization, ILO. Present during the workshop also included some of AFRACA member institutions namely, Cooperative Bank, Kenya, The...
In many African countries Central Banks have been the coordinating entity involved to formulating financial inclusion strategies for their respective countries. Tanzania has launched its third framework, the National Financial Inclusion Framework 2023 – 2028, building on the success recorded after the implementation of the second Framework, which ended in December 2022. Implementation of the new framework is expected to advance financial inclusion and promote development of the financial sector in the country ensuring all adults and businesses have...
On behalf of the AFRACA network and Executive Committee (EXCOM) we celebrate and express our sincere gratitude to Dr. Jesimen Chipika, Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe and Chairlady of the AFRACA Executive Committee for her exemplary service to the Association. Your Bank assumed office in AFRACA as Chair in February 2021 with a new team of Executive Committee Members at a time when the whole global economy was challenged by the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic which almost paralyzed most...
As Dr. Patrick Njoroge’s tenure came to a close at the Central Bank of Kenya, CBK, AFRACA gives special tribute and remembers his strong commitment and willingness to support the Associations’ activities. Dr. Njoroge was appointed the ninth Governor of the Central Bank of Kenya on June 26, 2015 with his eight year tenure as CBK boss coming to an end this June. During his tenure as Central Bank Governor, the banking sector in Kenya went from strength to strength,...
The Market Insight study was based on wide consultations with industry stakeholders over a five-month period. The study centered on the Kenya credit ecosystem and the implications of using alternative data (non-traditional) to prudently extend credit access to micro and small enterprises (MSE’s) in Kenya. The study acknowledges the availability of pockets of alternative data (not-traditional) available in different forms and structure such as data from payment service providers, transactional data from supermarkets, utility firms etc, supply chain data among others....
The AFRACA Executive Committee, EXCOM continued to exercise its oversight role to ensure proper governance of the Association. As has been the norm, the EXCOM meets twice every year. It was full house as the Central Bank of Kenya hosted the 88th AFRACA EXCOM meeting in Nairobi with all sub-regional chairpersons represented. In her opening statement, the Chairperson made note of the expanded membership of EXCOM which now includes representatives from smaller institutions under the new governing principle that seeks to...
