AFDB launches Africa Digital Financial Inclusion Facility

The African Development Bank (AfDB) and its partners on Wednesday launched the (ADFI) Africa Digital Financial Inclusion Facility. The facility was designed to aid safety and expansion of digital financial transactions in Africa.

The fund for the facility, which was launched at the Bank’s Annual Meeting in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea is supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Agence Francaise de Development (AFD) and the government of Luxembourg as initial contributors. The Bank vice president Pierre Guislain said the goal is to ensure that, “not less than 320 million Africans have access to digital financial services“.

The fund will deploy 100 million dollars in the form of grants and 300 million dollars in the form of debt. The debt will come from the bank’s capital resources by the year 2030. It will be used to scale up electronic financial services, for low-income communities.

The African Development Bank President, Akinwunmi Adesina said:

“we believe that with the right investment in innovation and smart digital growth, Financial and economic stability will be achieved.”

Financial inclusion, achieved through digital financial service models is simultaneously a powerful anti-poverty strategy and a catalyst for sustainable economic development, for national and regional economies”, said Michael Wiegand, Director of the financial services for the poor Program at the Bill& Melinda Gates Foundation.

The grant will create an interoperable digital payment system, that will allow costumers to send and receive money, from mobile wallets to bank accounts. Sebastien Minot, AFD’S Deputy Head For Africa said in a post;

“with ADFI, we are convinced that our joint efforts can contribute efficiently to bring down the barriers that still undermine the full potential of digital finance in africa. it will enhance the delivery of quality and responsible digital financial services to the UNDErSERVED, and hence lead to sustainable financial systems”

There was a discussion between the three-member panel including Bank Vice President Pierre Guislain, Private Sector Executive and The Head for Infrastructure and Industrialization, to discuss modalities and policy requirements that must be in place to enable the fund to achieve.