SPECIAL REPORT: Burkinabe PM, Luxembourg Minister Attend SAM Opening Ceremony with Senegalese, BCEAO High Representatives

At the opening ceremony of SAM yesterday, in the presence of Prime Minister Christophe Joseph Marie Dabiré of Burkina Faso, about 900 conference participants had the opportunity to hear commentary from several prominent government officials on the status of financial inclusion in the region. Norbert Toé, Vice Governor of the Banque Centrale des Etats de l’Afrique de l’Ouest (BCEAO), explained that his institution has made financial inclusion a priority, with the goal of increasing to 75 percent the portion of people in West Africa who have access to affordable financial services. He explained that this is motivated by the idea that financial inclusion supports sustainable development, economic growth and several of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, including gender equity, access to jobs, lower inequality and less hunger. Despite challenges in the realm of technology and other arenas, Dr Toé foresees the regulatory changes that BCEAO is now developing will lead to a “safe, resilient and inclusive financial sector.”

Zahra Iyane Thiam, the Senegalese Minister of Microfinance, Social Economy and Solidarity, described how access to finance affects so many aspects of people’s lives. In addition to helping with access to education and health, it allows entrepreneurs to create wealth, which promotes stability. Ms Thiam expressed concern, however, that microlending interest rates are becoming too high.

Paulette Lenert, Luxembourg’s Minister for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs, pointed out that more women than men lack basic financial services. She won a round of applause from the audience for pointing out the irony of this, given that women tend to be better at managing financial resources. Ms Lenert explained that her country provides technical assistance in microfinance, often to boost the impact of particular investments and to help standardize operations from country to country. She argued that, “Financial inclusion is needed to allow people to access their basic needs.” This includes savings, payments and other services beyond loans. Ms Lenert described financial inclusion as “a means to an end, giving people tools to improve their lives.” She added, “Without financial access, opportunity is unequal.”

This article is part of a sponsored series on SAM (the French acronym for African Microfinance Week), a major conference dedicated to financial inclusion in Africa. SAM is taking place now through October 25, 2019, in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso!

ADA, an NGO based in Luxembourg, co-organizes SAM every two years with the support of Luxembourg’s Ministry for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs. The SAM steering committee members are: ADA, Luxembourg’s Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, the Microfinance African Institutions Network, the African Rural and Agricultural Credit Association, and the Fédération des Association Professionnelle des Systèmes Financiers Décentralisés de l’Union Economique et Monétaire Ouest Africaine. We invite you to learn more about SAM at http://www.sam.africa.

MicroCapital has been contracted to promote and perform on-site documentation of each SAM since 2015.

Additional Resources

SAM
http://sam.africa/

Vignettes demonstrating the value of SAM and other MicroCapital coverage of the events
http://www.microcapital.org/category/semaine-africaine-de-la-microfinance-sam/

Vignettes demonstrating the value of SAM en francais
https://www.ada-microfinance.org/fr/evenements/semaine-africaine-microfinance/objectif-sam-2019/paroles-de-nos-participants