Monday 15 October 2018

Transcription

1 7 th AGFUND Development Forum Symposium on Achieving SDGs in Western and Central Africa through Financial Inclusion Hotel President Wilson, Geneva, Switzerland Monday 15 October 2018 The Arab Gulf Programme for Development (AGFUND) utilizes the annual award ceremony of AGFUND's International Prize to also act as a gathering for development experts to discuss the most up- to-date critical development issues, while maintaining focus on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) The Prize ceremony also highlights successful models and experiences in drawing innovative solutions to address economic and social problems. As such, the "AGFUND Development Forum" has come to be an annual event. Furthermore, the AGFUND forums have been carefully designed to effectively highlight the development issues identified by the United Nations. Since 2013; in order to build close and effective cooperation with partners to help finding appropriate solutions to these issues; AGFUND has so far successively organized six development forums in Manila, Montevideo, Rabat, Abu Dhabi, Geneva, and Riyadh. AGFUND forums are to continue until 2030, when the Sustainable Development Agenda concludes. The upcoming 7th Forum will be held in Geneva, Switzerland on Monday 15 October 2018 in partnership with the Swiss Capacity Building Facility (SCBF), the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA), and the Arab Open University (AOU). The forum will be held under the patronage of HRH Prince Talal Bin Abdul Aziz, the President of AGFUND, and will be attended by the African Microfinance networks, development specialists, development partners, media, AGFUND Prize Committee, and the Prize winners. The 7th Forum will host a symposium entitled Achieving SDGs in Western and Central Africa through Financial Inclusion. It includes five sessions as follows: 1. Financial Inclusion in Western and Central Africa: Reality VS. Aspirations; 2. Regional and International Stories in Advancing Financial Inclusion to the Poor. 3. The role of AGFUND Prize in Promoting SDGs 4. The role of donors and the private sector in achieving Financial Inclusion to the marginalized people in Africa. 5. Social Performance Measurement of the Impact of SDGs-related financial instruments/products.

2 Time Session 8:30-9:00 Registration and Welcome Coffee Welcoming Remarks: 9:00-9:05 Mr. Nasser Alkahtani, Executive Director, Arab Gulf Programme for Development (AGFUND) Keynote Speech: 9:05-9:20 One of the main income generating activities in Africa that promotes financial inclusion of the poor is agriculture. However, Microfinance institutions have been very careful in financing agricultural businesses due to the high risks associated with them. This Keynote will explore how Agricultural insurance can assist in advancing the financial inclusion for small farmers. Ms. Olga Speckhardt, Chair, Swiss Capacity Building Faclity The Patron Speech: 9:20 9:25 HRH Prince Talal bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, President of AGFUND. Session 1: Financial Inclusion in Western and Central Africa: Reality V.S Aspirations 9:30-10:40 Financial Inclusion regulations aimed to achieve financial inclusion objectives in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) has undergone many changes since the 1990s. It started with a law to harmonize the legal status of MFIs within the union. The law was revised in 2007 to promote the development of profit-seeking enterprises and modernize existing structures. The breakthrough in the regulatory framework of MFIs in the region came along in 2012 when the new microfinance regulation was finally adopted by all eight WAEMU countries. It opened the path for adopting institutional forms other than financial cooperatives/mutual structures -such as limited companies and Greenfield banks- to provide financial services to low income people. The Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) also introduced risk-based supervision with the banking commission and committed to oversee larger MFIs. in addition to these changes, key initiatives such as the creation of deposit insurance funds, a public credit registry, and financial consumer protection are high on BCEAO s agenda. In 2013, new financial inclusion strategy for the next five years was announced for the region.

3 On the other hand, despite recent progress and reforms, developments in the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) region were uneven and on average, less advanced than in other low-income regions. As financial development impacts economic growth and can play a critical role in reducing poverty and inequality, the importance of fostering the financial sector and promoting access to financial services is thus vital to development efforts for the CEMAC. This session will explore the status of regulatory framework of Microfinance and financial inclusion in Western and Central Africa. In addition, the session will discuss the added value of AGFUND s Banks presence in the region in terms of improving the enabling environment of Microfinance and financial inclusion. Moderator: H.E. Dr. Diene Keita, Minister of Cooperation and African Integration, Guinea 10:40-11:10 Coffee Break - Mrs. Fatou DIENG GUEYE, Deputy Director, Financial Inclusion, BCEAO - Mr. Adil Ballah, General Manager, Ebdaa Microfinance Bank, Sudan - Mr. M. Lamine Mbacke, Chairman, Managing Director, African Institute of Islamic Finance AIIF-Advisory and Training - Dr. Soukeina Bouraoui, Executive Director, Center of Arab Women for Training and Research (CAWTAR) Session 2: Regional and International Stories in Advancing Financial Inclusion to the Poor. 11:10-12:20 Problems facing the poor does not only exist in the lack of financial resources that enable them to improve their living conditions, but it mainly exists in how to direct and steer the little funds they borrow to be more feasible with the aim to create a real life change. This Session discusses the invention and design of products of regional and international case studies that meet the needs of the poor and contribute to solving their economic and social problems. The Session includes AGFUND's financial inclusion model as well as presenting case studies from other regional financial institutions in terms of products and techniques that enhance the access and market penetration. Moderator: Dr. Bashar Alzu bi, Senior Microfinance Expert Assistant Professor at AOU

4 - Professor Mohammed Alzakri, President, Arab Open University - Mr. Rutger Groot, Chairman, East-West Seed Knowledge Transfer. - Dr. Khaled Algazawi, CEO, Ibdaa Microfinance Bank, Bahrain - Mr. Jakob Steinhagen, Advisor Communications Cooperation with Arab Donors Programme (CAD), GIZ. Session 3: The role of AGFUND Prize in Promoting SDGs Started in 1999, the AGFUND International Prize has been an effective tool to explore the pioneering projects in human development worldwide. The Prize subjects has been aligned with the 17 goal of the Sustainable Development Agenda of the United Nations. This session will discuss the role that AGFUND Prize plays in advancing the SDGs. Winners of last year will present their winning projects and the way forward to upscale them. Moderator: Mr. Nasser Alkahtani, Executive Director, AGFUND 12:20-13:30 - Ms. Sunitha Krishnan, Founder and Chief Functionary of Prajwala, India - Dr. Mushtaque Chowdhury, Vice Chair, BRAC, Bangladesh - Mr. Yogendra Mandal, Executive Director, Jeevan Bikas Samaj (JBS), Nepal - Ms. Marie Lichtenberg, Director of International Partnerships, Planet Aid 13:30 14:40 Lunch 14:40-15:50 Session 4: The role of donors and private sector in achieving Financial Inclusion to the marginalized people in Africa. Global financial resources are not enough to address the Sustainable Development Agenda. Up to 2030, the world would need mobilization of resources estimated to be around US$ 2.5 trillions per year. Budgets allocations for SDG-related spending in developing countries is scanty because of the lack of financial resources. On the other hand, private investment is known to be effective, stable, aligned to needs, and manageable. Private capital and

5 development agencies capital has become a priority for governments to achieve the SDGs by The private capital -including neglected areas of microfinance- to improve access of marginalized groups to SDGs related financial inclusion services & activities such as income generating, empowerment of women, micro-savings for education, environment related microfinance, early childhood development activities, health insurance services and digital product innovative activities) has not yet fully explored. In this regard, the Arab Coordination Group (ACG) as well as the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development Development Assistance Committee (OECD-DAC) have wellestablished experiences in offering grants and aids to the least developed countries. AGFUND offers a set of successful experiences since the time when HRH Prince Talal Bin Abdul Aziz announced his initiative to establish specialized banks to help providing more financial inclusion to the poor. This made AGFUND an international leader in terms of establishing banks and institutions in partnership with the business communities in each of his countries of operation, and manage them as social businesses. Furthermore, AGFUND established other agencies in the region that achieve financial inclusion for the poor and work closely for achieving the sustainable development goals. In this session, the role of donors and private sectors to achieving the Sustainable Development Agenda will be presented. Moreover, the session will explain how the private sector and businessmen translate the concept of "social business" through contributing to achieving sustainable development in their communities. Moderator: H.E. Dr. Sidi Ould Tah, Director General, the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA) - Mr. Florian Kemmerich, Managing Partner, Bamboo Capital Partners - Mr. Venan Sondo, Co-Founder and Management Partner, CHAiNT Afrique Chana Ltd - Mr. Jens Sedemund, Senior Advisor, Private Financing for Sustainable Development, OECD - Mr. Mohammad Alsaati, Director, President Office, Islamic Development Bank

6 Session 5: Social Performance Measurement of the Impact of SDGs-related financial instruments/products. 15:50-17:00 Among financial inclusion providers, there is a growing interest and awareness of the SDGs, as well as the role of financial inclusion in contributing to the sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) via a growing innovative financial services & products (such as microsavings, microinsurance "including micro-takaful", solar energy and nurseries/kindergarten). Furthermore, these providers are looking at ways to track and measure progress on achieving SDGs via appropriate reporting. In particular, mission-driven microfinance & financial inclusion providers such as AGFUND's microfinance banks are enthusiastic to measure their financing impact of their social objectives. Very diverse types of providers employ the sufficiently flexible Social Performance Task Force, SPTF/Universal Standards to attain their social goals. The SPTF social dimensions for social performance management and reporting remain fixed, but the goals can be customized, and providers can decide for themselves the outcomes they want to achieve, measure, and track. This session will explore the status via some examples of SDGs-related financial instruments/products as practiced by AGFUND's banks and other microfinance providers in Africa. In addition, the session will discuss the importance and relevance of SPTF Universal Standard tools to the SDGS-driven microfinance providers. Moderator: Professor Badr El Din A. Ibrahim, Senior Microfinance Advisor, AGFUND & Director of Arab Open University, Bahrain Branch. - Mr. Ramm Johann-Friedrich, Senior Policy Advisor, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) - Mr. Jurgen Hammer, Chairman, Social Performance Task Force - Mr. Tony Kalm, President, Once Acre Fund USA - Mr. Sameh Almahariq, General Manager, National Microfinance Bank, Jordan 17:00-17:30 Conclusion 17:30 Networking/ Cocktail

7 PRESS CONFERENCE PRESS CONFERENCE HALL PALAIS DES NATIONS - UNOG GENEVA - SWITZERLAND Tuesday 16 October 2018 PRESS CONFERENCE(invitations Only) AGFUND INTERNATIONAL PRIZE ASSEMBLY HALL PALAIS DES NATIONS - UNOG GENEVA - SWITZERLAND Wednesday 17 October 2018 Tentative program of the Award Ceremony Time Session 17:00-17:20 WELCOMING REMARKS: Mr. Nasser Alkahtani, Executive Director of AGFUND OPENING REMARKS: H.E. Mr.Michael Moller,Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva (TBC) SDC SPEECH:, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) (TBC) GCC SPEECH: (TBC) PRIZE COMMITTEE SPEECH: By Her Majesty Queen Sofia, Member of AGFUND Prize Committee. PRESIDENT OF AGFUND SPEECH: By HRH Prince Talal bin Abdul Aziz AL Saud, President of AGFUND.

8 17:20-17:50 OPENING SPEECHES Speeches and films: Winners of the AGFUND Prize 2017 dedicated for the SDG # 4 (Quality Education) FOURTH CATEGORY- (Projects by Individuals): Address by Dr. Sunitha Krishnan. Founder of Brajwala NGO. Short Film on the project. THIRD CATEGORY- (Projects by Governments): This Prize was withheld for the failure of the nominated projects to meet the Prize criteria. SECOND CATEGORY- (Projects by national NGOs): Address by Mr. Yogendra Mandal, Executive Director of Jeevan Bikas Samaj (JBS). Short film on the project. FIRST CATEGORY- (Projects by UN & International organizations): Address by Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, Founder and Chairman of BRAC. Short film on the project. 17:50-18:00 HONORING OF THE PRIZE WINNERS: Fourth Winner : (Prevention of Trafficking Through Vocationalized Education)- India. Second Winner : (Accelerating a Sustainable Solution for Quality Education) - Nepal. First Winner : (Non-Formal Primary Education (NFPE) Program) - Bangladesh. 18:00-18:30 RECEPTION