The importance of financial inclusion can never be overstated, not just in India but across the developing world. It features high on the agenda of global development and reflecting its global importance, last week, delegates from Central Bank of West African States visited IFMR Rural Finance to understand the financial inclusion initiatives taken here. The delegates were from CTMI, the Electronic and Interbanking Payment Settlement Division of the Central Bank, the decision making body for any new special project.
West African countries need efforts similar to that in India for financial inclusion to become a reality. In fact, despite there being close to 100 banks in the region, only around 10% of the population have bank accounts. “The problems faced by the people of West Africa is very similar to the ones the Indian people face. We also strongly believe that the only way to reach our population is by use of technology, especially the mobile banking. As you would know, mobile penetration in Africa is extremely high and it is the easiest way to reach people. We have seen some of your initiatives in using technologies and we would like to take this input back to our countries.” said Mr. Homialo Gbeasor, Chairman of CTMI.
“The initiatives taken by IFMR are very interesting and we have a good overview of the operations, technology, and audit necessary for bringing in financial inclusion. What we have seen here is exactly what we need in our countries.” said Mr. Blaise Ahouantchede, Managing Director, CTMI.
