The 2009 AFI Global Policy Forum

14 – 16 September 2009
Windsor Golf Hotel & Country Club
Nairobi, Kenya

Newsletter 21-08-2009 | Française | Portuguese

Dear All,

As AFI’s first Global Policy Forum, to be held 14-16 September 2009 in Nairobi, is drawing closer, more and more organizations are signing up to join this exciting event. These include senior policymakers from the central banks of Thailand, Sierra Leone, Ghana and Yemen, and many more. I hope you will be able to join us.

Below you will find some important updates regarding the Forum.

Have you registered yet? If not, you can do so directly on our designated Global Policy Forum website until 31 August.

I look forward to seeing you in Nairobi next month.

Best wishes

Alfred Hannig
Executive Director, AFI


Marketplace of topics and ideas: As you know, “fishbowl” discussions on each of AFI’s six policy areas will provide a platform for peer-to-peer exchange and offer you the opportunity to get advice from experienced policy experts and other specialists on the specific policy reforms you are working on. The forum will serve as a marketplace where you can choose from a range of discussions and events, and you are free to participate in the fishbowls of most interest to you.

For more information on AFI’s policy areas, click here

“Out-of-the box” side events: We are also organizing a series of side events to bring new perspectives into the field of financial inclusion and to offer new learning opportunities for our members. For instance, Daryl Collins from Bankable Frontier Associates will offer a primer on the potential of the Global Financial Access Snapshot, a new initiative to improve financial inclusion data. She will also share the findings of her interesting new book, Portfolios for the Poor: How the World’s Poor Live on $2 a Day, co-authored with Jonathan Morduch, Orlanda Ruthven and Stuart Rutherford.

To view the agenda of the Global Policy Forum, click here

Important visa update: We have some important new information concerning visas. Participants from certain countries will not be able to obtain a visa-on-arrival in Nairobi, but must apply for a visa at the Kenyan embassy in their respective countries before leaving for Kenya. Visit our website for more information.

Do you need a yellow fever certificate? Visitors from countries affected by yellow fever need to obtain a yellow fever certificate prior to their arrival in Kenya. On our website, you will find more information about which countries are affected by this.

Airport transfers: If you haven’t already done so, please provide us with your flight details so that we can organize the transfer from the airport to your hotel. >

Are you staying at the Tribe hotel? Strategic partners staying at the Tribe hotel need to make their reservations by 30 August to take advantage of the special AFI rate of $195/night. Use the registration code “AFI Global Policy Forum” when registering.

Need more information? On our 2009 AFI Global Policy Forum website, you can find more details about the conference.

Newsletter 11-08-2009

Dear All,

Preparations for AFI’s first Global Policy Forum, on 14-16 September 2009 in Nairobi, Kenya, are gathering pace. Already, leading policymakers from around the globe have signed up for the event, from the Governors of the Central Banks of Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Kenya to major figures from Latin America, as well as representatives from the Inter-American Development Bank and other international institutions.

Below is a quick update of some of the latest developments at the Forum,

If you haven’t already registered for the event, please click here to sign up, where you’ll also find details of the programme.

I look forward to seeing you in Nairobi at what promises to be an exciting event.

Best wishes

Alfred Hannig
Executive Director, AFI


Practical answers to the big policy questions: We’ll be running a series interactive ‘fishbowl’ discussions focusing on AFI’s six policy areas, including correspondent banking, mobile phone banking, state bank reforms, diversification of financial products and providers, financial identity and consumer protection. Moderated by policy experts with the support of a leading TV presenter, the fishbowls will enable policymakers considering particular policies to draw on the collective knowledge of their peers and other specialists to answer key questions needed to develop a practical roadmap for moving forward.

Some of the questions that delegates have already submitted include: What is the role of regulators in protecting consumers and should this be included in prudential or non-prudential rules? When a telecom provider starts to create e-money, when do the risks become so large that it needs to be regulated as deposit-taking? If you have any questions you’d like addressed in the fishbowls, contact sungah.lee@afi-global.org.

Need to link up with a policy specialist? If you’d like to discuss a particular issue with a policy expert at the Forum on a one-to-one basis, let us know and we’ll try to link you with right person. Email sungah.lee@afi-global.org.

Delving behind the data: David Porteus of Bankable Frontier will provide an overview of the key challenges involved in designing financial access surveys for policymakers and how to overcome these hurdles, supported by recent examples. There will also be snapshots of the latest financial access data for Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Out-of-the-box side events: We’ll be holding a range of side events in order to inject new thinking into the field of financial inclusion, as well as to help our members share their knowledge more effectively. One of the events, for example, will explore how social networking techniques used in other industries can be used to link up smart policy thinking and advance financial inclusion. There will also be discussion with one of the authors of a fascinating new book, Portfolios of the Poor.

For further information: Visit our 2009 AFI Global Policy Forum web page for further details about the conference.

20-07-2009