AFI is in the final stage of preparation for relocation to the organization’s new and permanent home in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. During the month of December the AFI management unit staff will be coordinating the complex transition of the office equipment, servers as well as staff and families. AFI will remain open for essential services and operations during this period with full operations to be resumed during the first week of January 2015.

The move marks yet another significant milestone of growth evolution for AFI, setting the stage for the organization’s transformation into an independent organization.

Founded in 2008, AFI was conceived as a knowledge sharing network to help facilitate the financial inclusion lessons for regulators in developing countries. The Network’s growth exceeded all expectations as more and more regulators found their association with AFI was providing impact and value to their policy work. The Network has since expanded well beyond its original concept and through its annual Global Policy Forum (GPF) and the worldwide adoption of the Maya Declaration, AFI is now a recognized leader in the financial inclusion policy field, with members demonstrating a strong record of measurable success and innovation.

Now with a solid and growing membership base from 95 countries, AFI will complete the transformation from a project into a fully independent organization, becoming a permanent part of the international financial architecture and cooperation family.

“It’s an exciting time for this organization,” said Alfred Hannig, Executive Director at AFI. “Thanks to the strong support and dedication of our members we are seeing the ambitious vision of AFI being realized. AFI’s independence and new permanent home signals the end of the project we started in 2008, and the beginning of something even more historic. Something that will provide real value on a continuing basis to our members, to our partners and most importantly, to the world’s unbanked.”