Bank of Zambia will continue to encourage financial institutions to administer the FAMOS check tool and the cooperation of all stakeholders in this regard is vital. The Bank of Zambia will continue to create an enabling environment through policies, legislation and regulation that facilitate greater financial inclusion of women. You may wish to know that the Bank has taken on board gender mainstreaming as part of its strategic plan, essentially to have a pluralistic approach that values the diversity among both women and men. Ladies and Gentlemen, let me remind you that Zambia has affiliated itself to conventions and initiatives that have the specific intention of enhancing the welfare of women. The Bank of Zambia will continue to take the role of the provider of an enabling environment that enhances access to finance and financial services by all, especially those that have been traditionally excluded like the economically active poor women whose entrepreneurial prowess needs to be harnessed in order to reduce poverty and increase the economic welfare of our people. Bank of Zambia is therefore delighted to be associated with this study and conference which provide a unique opportunity to listen to findings of the study and exchange ideas on the various outcomes from the study. It is my hope and trust that you will take advantage of this forum to initiate dialogue between Women Entrepreneurs and women in general and the various other stakeholders to propose mechanisms to accelerate women’s access to finance.
To paraphrase Lawrence Summers, it is not enough to explain that globalization is inevitable and that policies that look politically attractive as a response to economic anxiety will only hurt the economy as a whole. Nor is it a politically effective strategy to state simply that economic integration is a necessary and powerful force in raising average incomes, or that technological change may be more important than trade or immigration as an explanation for slower growth in real wages for many Americans. Raising the quality of education and exploring ways to improve the safety net are a necessary part of the solution to this challenge. But these reforms will have a long fuse and they may not yield the hoped-for increase in support. Trade does not appear to be more popular in countries with more generous safety nets, universal health care and highly subsidized higher education than it is today in the United States. The political challenges of sustaining support for global economic integration and fiscal sustainability will be more difficult in the United States because of what has happened to the distribution of income and economic insecurity.