Kenya to Host Regional Financial Sector Forum
Kenya will host a regional financial sector workshop that seeks to strengthen credit markets through the credit information sharing (CIS) processes. The two-day high level meeting dubbed “Up-scaling the Credit Markets in East Africa” has attracted regional Central Bank Governors and World Bank and International Finance Corporation (IFC) representatives.
The conference comes at a time when CIS has gained momentum in emerging economies over the past few years, as demonstrated by the increasing number of private credit bureaus operating in these markets.
The Kenya Bankers Association (KBA) CEO Mr. Habil Olaka said credit bureaus have a significant impact on the development of the credit market in a country since they educate borrowers about the impact their behavior has on their financial future.
The conference is being held at a time when majority of Kenya’s adult population are said to shun borrowing money from financial institutions.
“According to the 2009 FinAccess Survey only 36% of Kenyans are currently enjoying some form of credit facilities while 11 per cent had credit at one point. An alarming 53% have not obtained credit from financial institutions,” said Mr. Olaka.
The forum, to be held at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre (KICC) on 7 – 8 June 2011 will be facilitated by experts drawn from the World Bank, China, USA, the South African market, and the East African Community. The target audience of the conference will comprise of policy makers, credit providers such as SACCOs and MFIs, practitioners in the area of credit reporting and regulators from developed and emerging markets.
Mr. Olaka said a CIS framework among Kenyan banks was launched in July 2010. All banks began formal data submission to Credit Reference Bureaus (CRB) with some banks now actively referring to credit reports before disbursing credit.
“The CBK-KBA Joint Taskforce continues to provide oversight to the Kenya Credit Information Sharing Initiative (KCISI). Financial Sector Deepening Trust (FSD K) and the Financial and Legal Sector Technical Assistance Project (FLSTAP) have complemented KBA’s budget with financial support to the project,” said Mr. Olaka.
He said the efficiency of financial intermediation in any country is determined by the ability of lenders to evaluate risk and of borrowers to obtain credit at competitive terms. He said the introduction of credit reporting reduces information asymmetries between lenders and borrowers, permitting more efficient allocation of credit.
Mr. Olaka said the setting up of infrastructure for sharing credit information among lenders is at infant stages in East Africa. In Kenya, the Central Bank and the Bankers Association set up a joint project, the Kenya Credit Information Sharing Initiative (KCISI), to oversee the full implementation of the mechanism amongst commercial banks. In Uganda, the Credit Reference Bureau Services (CRBS) put credit reporting into practice, again amongst commercial banks. Tanzania, Burundi and Rwanda have also embraced the initiative and have plans underway to introduce laws on the same, with the support of the International Finance Corporation (IFC).
The meeting will discuss legal and regulatory environment, cross border data flows, Governance and risk management, financial education and consumer protection, dispute resolution and consumer education, opportunities for credit reporting in the non-bank arena and credit bureaus in the region,
It is jointly organised by the Kenya Credit Information Sharing Initiative (KCISI), Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) and the Kenya Bankers Association (KBA). It is supported by among others, the Ministry of Finance (MoF), the Financial and Legal Sector Technical Assistance Programme (FLSTAP), Financial Sector Deepening Trust (FSD KENYA), The World Bank and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
This article was originally posted on East Africa Business Communities
Are you interested in Market Research, Recruitment and Business Leads?
Join the Africa Business Panel, powered by Africa Business Communities.
www.africabusinesspanel.com