AFI – Celo partnership advances global financial inclusion

The Celo Foundation — which supports the growth and development of the decentralized, open source, mobile-first Celo Platform to help build a carbon-negative financial system that creates the conditions of prosperity for all,  is the newest private sector partner to be invited to join AFI’s Public-Private dialogue (PPD) platform. AFI’s PPD Platform gives policymakers, regulators, the private sector, development partners and other key stakeholders the opportunity to engage in constructive and focused conversations, share technical expertise on key financial inclusion issues, develop more informed policy, and encourage innovation and investment.

FinTech projects championing innovations related to web3, blockchain, and virtual assets, have engaged in a dialogue with policymakers and regulators to explore policy implications to ensure the financial sector continues to see robust innovation and financial inclusion. The initial one-year invitation into the PPD Platform allows the Celo Foundation to engage in discussions with AFI membership on policy areas such as blockchain, virtual assets, central bank digital currency (CBDC), inclusive green finance, de-risking, and cross-border digital payments. The knowledge sharing among eighty-two financial regulators from 75 emerging and developing economies and the Foundation will help build greater awareness of new and emerging policy issues and amplify efforts to develop new technologies and approaches for real life use cases in AFI members’ jurisdictions.

The Celo Foundation’s engagement with AFI membership will encompass various modalities, including AFI’s PPD meetings at leadership and technical levels, as well as sharing subject matter expertise for relevant AFI knowledge products and projects, including:

• Technical knowledge contributions to AFI’s PPD roundtable discussions;
• High-level discourse among leaders of AFI members and partner institutions in global PPD meetings; and,
• Capacity building for regulators.

About the Celo Foundation

The Celo Foundation was founded in 2017 to support the growth and development of the decentralized, open source, mobile-first Celo Platform to help build a carbon-negative financial system that creates the conditions of prosperity for all.  The Celo Foundation is a U.S.-based non-stock, non-profit organization established by Rene Reinsberg, Sep Kamvar, and Marek Olszewski.The Foundation is guided by the Celo community tenets, and contributes to education, technical research, environmental health, community engagement, and ecosystem outreach—activities that support and encourage an inclusive financial system.

For more about Celo, visit https://celo.org/.

About AFI

AFI is the world’s leading organization on financial inclusion policy and regulation. Roughly 82 member institutions make up the AFI network including central banks, ministries of finance and other financial regulators from 75 developing and emerging countries. AFI works on empowering policymakers to increase access and usage of quality financial services for the underserved through formulation, implementation and global advocacy of sustainable and inclusive policies.

For more on AFI:  www.afi-global.org