By Lumbiwe Mwanza
WE are committed to developing strategies and programs to promote digital financial inclusion with the view to enable citizens to become more responsible for their own financial planning, Technology and science Minister Felix Mutati has said.
Mr. Mutati told The Scoop that Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) and low-income households make greater use of financial services hence the need to develop specific programmes that promoted financial inclusion.
He said that the existing gaps in financial services required the development of digital financial education programs to improve digital financial literacy, with a focus on skills likely to be critical for stakeholders participating in the digital economy.
“As the Government, we are committed to scratch where it is itching through promoting digitized financial services. We remain resolute as the Government to define digital financial literacy, design tools to assess it, and develop programs to promote digital financial education as well as special programs for vulnerable groups, including the elderly, the less educated, owners of SMEs, and start-up firms.
“We want to ensure that most national financial education strategies address the digital financial literacy needs specifically,” Mr Mutati said.
He said that the promotion of digital technology could make financial services borderless, which would allow citizens to easily access financial products and services not only locally, but also in other countries which showed the importance of global coordination.
He said the Government will not relent in supporting financial service providers for their efforts to tailor products and innovations more closely to consumer needs, especially among entrepreneurs.
He said that collaboration was key in advancing cross-industry and cross-sector partnerships to explore bundling services, encourage the use of new technology and increase incentives for digital adoption.
He said that in a bid to attain Financial inclusion, there should be a sustainable provision of affordable financial services that brought the poor into the formal economy and build an inclusive system which included a range of financial services that provided opportunities for accessing and moving funds, growing capital, and reducing risks.
