7 th Joint AU/ECA Conference of Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development

1. 7th Joint AU/ECA Conference of Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development REPORT ON POSTAL FINANCIAL SERVICES: Strategies to increase financial inclusion low-income populations in Africa www.au.int

2. Outline • Context • Key findings • Recommendations • Expected decisions www.au.int

3. Context of the Study • 80% of the African adult population is un(der)banked • Insufficient infrastructure for physical access to financial services and financial literacy are key barriers that hamper the financial inclusion • 60% of the African Governments and/or African financial sector regulators have already published their commitments to and are active in improving financial inclusion www.au.int

4. Context of the Study • 60% of the African Governments and/or African financial sector regulators committed to improve financial inclusion • African postal sector consists of 26,000 outlets of which 80% are located in remote and rural areas • 10% of Africa’s adult population uses post offices. www.au.int

5. Context of the Study Postal networks deliver an estimated 5% of the migrant remittances www.au.int

6. Key findings of the Study • Data on the role of the African postal networks in the provision of financial services are in most cases subsumed in standard reports on the financial sector • Access to financial services is a key priority issue for poverty reduction in nearly all African countries and the www.au.int

7. Key findings of the Study and existing 26,000 post offices can bridge the gap as a physical and public access infrastructure • Progress is made in the provision of FS through the P.O and more than 85% of postal operators pursue diversification of services, mainly into financial services and ICT based consumer service www.au.int

8. Key findings of the study • The most relevant obstacles in the transformations include: • Lack of capacity to expanding access to financial services via the postal networks. • Limited access to finance for modernization • Impact of Postal Universal Service Obligation www.au.int

9. Key Recommendations • P. O need to be seen as an existing specific component of the financial access infrastructure • FS via P.O need to be controlled by the financial regulator in collaboration with the regulatory body in charge of postal sector, considering the specificity of postal financial services www.au.int

10. Key Recommendations • Diversity of the financial services offered via post offices • Empowerment for financial inclusion via P.O needs to include the development of financial literacy of the un (der) banked; • Legal form of the PFS to be reviewed to make them more viable, competitive and more customers oriented To include “Financial Inclusion” in a new designed legal and regulated framework of Universal Service Obligation. www.au.int

11. Key Recommendations • Need to include “Financial Inclusion” in a new designed legal and regulated framework of Universal Service Obligation. www.au.int

12. Expected decisions from the Conference • To take note of the study carried out by the African Union Commission on Strategies to increase the inclusion of Low-income populations; • To recognize the substantial potential to provide access to a broader range of FS to more individuals via PFS; www.au.int

13. Expected decisions from the Conference  Integrate, include or prioritize the post in national strategies and agenda for financial inclusion www.au.int

14. REPORT ON POSTAL FINANCIAL SERVICES THANK YOU www.au.int