With a large chunk of the informal sector still banking in a handbag, the National Financial Inclusion Strategy II (NFIS-II) has been launched by Government to deepen the use of financial products in the informal sector to achieve the aspirations of the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS-1) and make those in the sector more prosperous as a result.
NDS1, among other priorities, aims to eradicate poverty and empower women, and youths, promote sustainable livelihoods for the less privileged and support people living with disability.
NFIS-II rides on the successful implementation of (National Financial Inclusion Strategy I (NFIS-I) that ran between 2016 and 2021 focusing more on access to financial services by the low-income and marginalised groups such as women, youths, rural communities, smallholder farmers as well as micro, small and medium enterprises.
This is reflected by the significant milestones as reflected by the increase in the proportion of adults with access to formal financial services from 69 percent in 2014 to 83 percent this year, and the narrowing of the financial exclusion gap between the financially covered and the unbanked population from 23 percent to 12 percent.
NFIS-II is designed to support and facilitate the attainment of the objectives of NDS-1 whose overarching goal is to ensure accelerated, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth, social economic transformation and Zimbabwe’s development towards an upper middle-income economy by 2030.
Officially launching NFIS-II in Harare yesterday, Finance and Economic Development Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube said financial inclusion was at the core of inclusive and sustainable economic growth as it facilitated not only the integration of the unbanked into the formal economy but massive creation of entrepreneurs and small and micro businesses, reducing economic inequality.
This, he said, made the poor less vulnerable to financial shocks.
“I note with a lot of pride and gratification that the NFIS-II resonates very well with the Government’s NDS-1 which runs from the period 2021 to 2025 whose overarching goal is to ensure high accelerated inclusive and sustainable economic growth, as well as sustaining economic transformation and development towards an upper-income society by 2030.
“As many of you would know, Zimbabwe is a signatory to the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals and the Declaration on Gender Inclusive Finance.
“The NFIS-II dovetails very well with our country’s development objectives and aspirations as enunciated in the NDS-1, and NFIS-II will be the lubricant to facilitate the attainment of our objectives,” he said.
In his view, such an initiative that sought to ensure all Zimbabweans were financially included and empowered to fully participate in economic development should be well-resourced and supported at the national level.
He wanted the financial services sector, development partners and Government departments and agencies to take joint ownership of the financial inclusion strategy in pursuit of an inclusive economy.
“My ministry will support the implementation of the second phase of the NFIS and is ready to work with all stakeholders in order to make financial inclusion a reality for all Zimbabweans,” said Prof Ncube.
Earlier in his remarks, Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Dr John Mangudya said the launch of the NFIS-II came at a time when the monetary and fiscal policy measures put in place by the Government and central bank had brought stability to the economy.
“We know that there are still some out-layers out there who benefit from arbitrage as a business or industry, and we are still going for them. We know there are few whose job is just to make money from arbitrage.
“But in this national financial inclusion, we shall be going for them through either exchange control or the Financial Intelligence Unit and even ourselves at RBZ to ensure that at least they also come and join us when we partake in the national financial inclusion strategy.
“The global trends show a strong focus of central banks in the development of national financial inclusion as a key driver of sustained and balanced economic growth which helps reduce inequality and poverty.
“Today’s launch is a testimony of the financial inclusion journey that we started under the first national financial inclusion launched in 2016-2021.”
The development of the strategy involved anextensive collaborative process and significant reflection and consultation with stakeholders.
Dr Mangudya said financial inclusion remained a key priority of RBZ in fostering sustainable and broad-based growth that promoted shared prosperity and opportunities.
“Thus, financial inclusion plays a critical role in the creation of an inclusive economy where all economically active Zimbabweans have an opportunity to create wealth, reduce poverty, build resilience towards unexpected shocks as well as participate in the economic development of our country.”
The RBZ Governor highlighted that the journey during the implementation of NFIS-I had its own challenges amid unexpected shocks that included the Covid-19 pandemic and the Government and policymakers managed to stay the course in the achievement of financial inclusiveness in the economy.
“Covid-19 has made inclusivity more urgent. The lack of resilience affected everyone and everywhere but was more pronounced in women, micro, small and medium enterprises, smallholder farmers and the poor.
“As you will be aware, upon the expiry of the first national financial inclusion strategy, two Finscope surveys were commissioned to evaluate progress following the implementation of the NFIS-I and to facilitate the development of an evidence-based NFIS-II.
“And it is pleasing to note that Zimbabwe registered remarkable progress on the access dimension which continues to play a key role in financial inclusion of the vulnerable and underserved groups including women, youth, micro, small and medium enterprises, people with disability, rural communities, smallholder farmers, pensioners and the elderly,” said Dr Mangudya.
Presenting the country’s journey towards financial inclusion from 2016 to date, RBZ Deputy Governor Dr Jesimen Chipika said at the end of NFIS-I, the Finscope Survey indicated that financial inclusion in the adult (18 years and above) population in Zimbabwe improved to 83 percent against a target of 90 percent.
“In terms of overall access to financial inclusion, we moved from 69 percent to 83 percent in 2022 against that target of 90 percent which I said was very high. So we celebrated 83 percent as it was a big milestone,” she said. – The Herald
