NAIROBI, Kenya, Dec 9 – 500 professionals from leading African and international banks, financial institutions and banking associations yesterday converged in Nairobi, to enhance investments across the region.
The 5th East African Banking and Microfinance Forum was organized by the Trade and Development Bank Group (TDB Group) and the European Investment Bank (EIB).
The annual event brought together experts from development banks, microfinance institutions, central banks, and commercial banks.
Others were business and entrepreneurs, as well as other financial insitutions to discuss solutions to the most critical issues facing the East African banking sector today.
“The East African Banking and Microfinance Forum has become an important occasion to drive thought-leadership on current opportunities and challenges of the banking sector in East Africa, as well as on the ins and outs of its operating environment as it stands today,” TDB Group President Emeritus and Managing Director Admassu Tadesse said.
” We are delighted to organize this Forum once again with EIB, a strategic partner of our Group. Together we are shedding some much needed light on the most pressing issues of the day in the region, and on how finance should be harnessed for development that is indeed sustainable, here in Africa, but also globally,” he said.
Themed “Financing for Sustainable Development: a Response to the Challenges of Climate Change”, the Forum comes on the back of the African COP27 climate summit– that focused on enhancing climate finance and unlocking investment.
“This year’s East African Banking and Microfinance Forum aims at discussing best practices and enhancing targeted investment that are crucial to address challenges such as drought and extreme weather events, as well as energy shocks and food security across the region,” Thomas Östros, European Investment Bank Vice President said.
“The EIB and TDB are committed to working closely with local financial partners to identify challenges, share solutions and enrich specialist financial expertise that can strengthen the impact of private investment across East Africa.”
TDB Group and EIB have been growing cooperation since 2014, to advance development on a triple bottom-line basis in TDB member states.
In addition to the East African Banking and Microfinance Forum, which the institutions have been collaborating on various facilities since 2018, have been extended to TDB to finance critical projects tackling climate action, SMEs, and investment in fragile contexts, complemented with technical assistance.
