Martha Hailemariam, Senior Advisor to the Vice Governor, Financial Supervision of the National Bank of Ethiopia By accelerating our efforts, we can leverage digital technologies to foster the growth of the digital economy and the full participation of every citizen.” "The financial sector needs to be more innovative to address the pain points of Ethiopian citizens and needs to innovate with a sense of urgency to catch up with the fast-paced global development of digital products and services. Martha Hailemariam, Senior Advisor to the Vice Governor, Financial Supervision of the National Bank of Ethiopia, affirmed the Government's support for interventions like the showcase and indicated that although progress has been made, a lot more needs to be done. It also indicates how collaboration by key stakeholders is crucial to achieving Ethiopia's digital transformation goals. Xavier Michon, Deputy Executive Secretary, UNCDFĮthiopia's 'Digital Ethiopia 2025 Strategy' is a bold and ambitious approach that details the path to ensuring the full participation of every Ethiopian citizen in the digital economy. The idea is to create a broader enabling environment to exchange ideas and information in a way that will have greater traction and lead to more fruitful connections." This approach consists of connecting all the key stakeholders that play a critical and sometimes adjacent role to the fintech industry - the legal industry, regulators, economists, finance and investment professionals, academics and government, among others. Citing the recent launch of Safaricom and introduction of the popular mobile money service, M-Pesa, the hosting of the first PanAfricon Artificial Intelligence conference and now the 'Digital Finance Ethiopia Showcase', he said, "We are also convinced that it is necessary to pursue an ecosystem approach to support an enabling environment for such collaborations to occur. Xavier Michon, Deputy Executive Secretary, UNCDF, speaking at the opening ceremony of the showcase, reiterated UNCDF's belief that Ethiopia, like the rest of Africa, has a fintech industry that is poised for growth. The event, organized by the recently convened Digital Financial Services Working Group and supported by the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) and its partners, the European Union (EU) and the Organization of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS), brought together fintechs, banks, microfinance institutions, payment instrument issuers, mobile money providers and other key stakeholders to collaborate, network and engage further on how digitization can drive financial inclusion, reduce poverty through job creation and promote the participation of women and other marginalized segments in Ethiopia's economic growth. The products and services also showed the digital potential and ambition towards the growth of Ethiopia's digital economy. During the two-day event, players in the digital financial services ecosystem showcased how they innovate traditional financial services by introducing digital solutions and new technologies. The inaugural 'Digital Finance Ethiopia Showcase' event took place on 19 and 20 October in Addis Ababa.
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