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IDEV evaluators participate in a workshop on Financial Sector Development in Eastern and Southern Africa

Saturday, 27 October, 2018

As part of the ongoing evaluation of the African Development Bank (AfDB)’s role in increased access to finance in Africa, Independent Development Evaluation (IDEV) evaluators Albert-Enéas Gakusi and Mohamed Coulibaly participated in a workshop jointly organized by the Bank’s Financial Sector Department and Making Finance Work for Africa initiative in Nairobi (Kenya) on 25 and 26 October 2018.

The workshop gathered more than 50 participants from governments, insurance companies, central banks, corporate enterprises, capital markets agencies as well as representatives from the East African Community and development partners such as Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and the European Investment Bank (EIB).

The overall aim of this workshop was to:

  • Take stock of the current state of reforms in the Eastern and Southern Africa financial sectors;
  • Identify priority areas and actions, including innovative financial instruments, where Development Finance Institutions can reinforce their contribution to financing the real economy;
  • Adopt a common roadmap for new initiatives in favor of financial sector development in Eastern and Southern regions; and
  • Promote the integration of these initiatives in the strategies and programs of regional and international development institutions.

Focusing on the Eastern and Southern Africa regions, amongst the topics discussed during the workshop were financial inclusion, regional integration through the financial sector, climate finance, capital markets, financing real economies, and the financial sector situation in post conflict states.

This workshop was the second of four regional events dedicated to discussing the “nuts and bolts” of access to finance in Africa as well as the Bank’s role in supporting the sector. The first workshop was held in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire in September 2018 and focused on access to finance in Western Africa. A third workshop is planned for January 2019 in Tunis and will focus on access to finance in Northern Africa.

For IDEV, the workshops were insightful and provided its evaluators with knowledge of the key issues to consider in the design and implementation of the evaluation of the Bank’s role in increased access to finance in Africa.

Our evaluators’ key takeaways from the workshop

  • Insurance is an element of financial inclusion, which is still neglected by donors.
  • The private sector and State governments can be enablers or obstacles to regional integration.
  • Financial inclusion practices can sometimes lead to situations where underserved populations are further disadvantaged, which is the opposite of the desired result.
  • In fragile States, donors can intervene by supporting the establishment of institutions and financial infrastructure development including use of mobile money.

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