61 Total participants
Virtual Global Forum on Remittances Investment and Development
“Remittances in times of crisis: Response, Recovery and Resilience”
Dialogue to Implementation series
IFAD and its partners have convened a series of virtual events (eGFRID) entitled Remittances in times of crisis: Response, recovery and resilience – Dialogue to Implementation. These events are intended to facilitate the coordination and engagement needed for the implementation of the remittance-related policy options as identified by Financing for Development in the Era of COVID-19 and Beyond.
The Dialogue to Implementation series has two major objectives:
The Dialogues to Implementation series were structured around three specific tracks: (i) remittance families and development; (ii) the private sector and (iii) the enabling environment.
Proposed panels launching events are described below.
Dialogues to Implementation: Track I – Remittance Families
Track I addressed coordination needs and opportunities for international, regional and national stakeholders to support effective implementation and mitigation measures. This track highlighted the needs of remittance beneficiaries, identify good practices to mitigate the short-term impact of the crisis, and will contribute to long-term development goals.
| African national and regional efforts towards resilience of remittance families
8 April 2021, 13:30-14:15 (GMT+2) Co-organized with the African Union Discussion points Over years millions of households in Africa have benefited from the support of their members leaving abroad, especially through financial remittances. As focus and interest in remittances to Africa increase, findings of several reports have established (1) the resilience of these financial flows, as well as the need to need to (2) intensify efforts to unleash their potential impact. Members of this panel will provide a forward-looking analysis discussing the following: Moderator and discussant: Amadou Cissé, Executive Director, African Institute for Remittances (AIR), African Union Discussants: – Orria Goni, Team Leader, SDG Financing and South-South Cooperation Team. Africa Finance Sector Hub, UNDP – Dr. Mary Setrana, Centre for Migration Studies, Ghana – Touka Jules, Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS)
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Dialogues to Implementation: Track II – Private Sector and Digitization
Response through innovation and adaptation
Track II focused on the challenges facing the private sector and its key role in market recovery and resilience in the medium to long term. Discussions centred on current and future opportunities for digitization, innovative business models and the cross-selling of remittance-related products and services that address the needs of both senders and recipients. This track encouraged public and private sector dialogue to ensure that the implementation of measures is adapted to market realities.
| Serving the last mile: digitalizing remittances in rural African markets
8 April 2021, 14:15-15:00 (GMT+2) Co-organized with GSMA Discussion points The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a significant (14 per cent) decline in the value of global remittances. With shrinking economies and loss of household income levels, remittances have become an even vital income source for migrant families. In these challenging times and with limited access to traditional remittance agents, mobile money has played a crucial role in ensuring the flow of digital remittances to the last mile and more affordably. In this session, the GSMA moderated a panel comprising of mobile money providers (MTN, Orange and Vodafone) to discuss how mobile money gained a competitive advantage over the traditional cash-based remittances, the opportunities to scale and the challenges that need to be overcome. Moderator and discussant: Saad Farooq, Senior Manager Advocacy, Mobile for Development, GSMA Discussants: – Anne Catherine Tchokonté, Head of Mobile Financial Services Diversification – Middle East and Africa, Orange Group – Florent Antoni, Principal IMT Manager, Vodafone and Head of Remittances, M-Pesa Africa – Richard Nthiga Muriithi, Head of Remittances, MTN Group
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Dialogues to Implementation: Track III – Role of Public Sector
Track III focused on the key policy constraints identified during this crisis that impede competition and innovation in the remittance market. This dialogue explored potential policy and regulatory measures that can contribute to the mitigation of risks and improve the security of the remittances ecosystem for senders and remittances families. This track identified measures and explore global, regional and national entry points and needs.
| Role of Public Sector in enhancing financial services – Focus on implementation: inclusive integrity toolkit
8 April 2021, 15:15-16:00 (GMT+2) Co-organized with CENFRI Discussion points The panel focused on the role of public sector in enhancing remittance access and inclusive integrity with specific focus on the inclusive integrity toolkit that was jointly developed by the Centre for Financial Regulation and Inclusion (CENFRI) and AFI. The role of regulators in facilitating innovations (including regulatory) to address inclusive integrity and access to financial services will be highlighted from a private sector and development partner perspective. The panel also looked at lessons from the toolkit adoption to date as well as potential adoption and use to enhance inclusive integrity. Finally, the toolkit’s link to remittance access will be explored by focusing on the link with IFAD’s PRIME project in 7 countries. Moderator and discussant: Barry Cooper, Technical Director CENFRI Discussants: – Mariam Jemila Zahari, Policy Specialist, Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI) – Antonia Esser, Engagement Manager, CENFRI – Robert Bell, Chairman and Acting CEO, Klick-Ex
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