Around 1,500 delegates coming from 78 countries attended the Africa-Middle East Summit which was opened last April 7 at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre. The theme of the conference is “Committed to ending poverty”. In the opening ceremony, President Mwai Kibaki of Kenya said that the government is committed to improving the legal and regulatory framework that guides the microfinance industry in Kenya.
He cited the enactment of Microfinance Act 2006 and the SACCO Societies Act 2008 which improve the legal regulatory framework of the microfinance industry in this country. President Kibaki reiterated the important role of microfinance in eradicating poverty through financial inclusion of the poor people.
Other keynote speakers were Princess Maxima of the Netherlands, Queen Sofia of Spain, and Professor Mohammad Yunus all three underscored the need to facilitate access to financial services for the world’s poor to help them improve their livelihood.
At the first day of the conference, INAFI organized an associated workshop titled “Remittances, Microfinance, and Development. Akin Akintola, member of INAFI board moderated the workshop. Main speaker was Leila Rispens-Noel, Senior Advisor of INAFI, and Atiqun Nabi of INAFI Bangladesh/INAFI Asia, and Wakil Adjibi of Vital Finance (Benin) served as discussants. Both Nabi and Adjibi shared their experiences of their respective MFIs in leveraging remittances for development. Rispens-Noel mentioned the role of MFIs in providing remittance-based products and services to migrants and their families. Financial literacy she said is an important tool to help migrants and their families secure their financial future.
Several INAFI member organizations in Africa play important role during the conference as speakers or resource persons.
View some INAFI Pictures here
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