“One ocean, one people”: AFI’s new Pacific Regional Manager’s vision for advancing financial inclusion    

Mereseini Tuivuniwai recently joined AFI as Regional Manager, Pacific. She told us about her background, her passion for financial inclusion, and the opportunities she sees to advance financial inclusion across the Pacific Region.

Welcome, Mere! What motivated you to join AFI, and how did your interest in financial inclusion develop? 

I first came into contact with AFI back in 2010, whilst working for the Pacific Financial Inclusion Programme. I’ve always been impressed by AFI’s leadership around financial inclusion policy and regulation, and the influence and impact it has on its members. 

Since 2009, I’ve worked in the financial inclusion sector, and even after taking on other roles, I always remained an advocate of financial inclusion, encouraging family and friends on various initiatives like mobile money, financial literacy etc. In 2017, my family moved to Papua New Guinea and I worked for PNG’s Centre for Excellence in Financial Inclusion (CEFI).  

It was incredibly motivating to go into communities and see the impact of financial inclusion. To witness the empowerment that comes after receiving financial literacy training, and the opportunities that open up for people, particularly women, when they have access to financial services or products. Seeing the impact and transformation on people’s lives and livelihoods was so fulfilling. I’m passionate about financial inclusion issues, and now to be working for AFI, I can say that I’ve come full circle. 

What is your vision for the future of AFI’s Pacific Islands Regional Initiative? 

PIRI now has seven active member institutions, and members have made amazing progress since PIRI was created in 2014. My immediate priority is to increase the visibility of our PIRI members, including in areas of leadership. Increasing PIRI membership is a long-term vision. As much as possible, I would like to assist our members in taking advantage of the wealth of resources available to them. Wansolwara is a pidgin word meaning “one ocean, one people”. PIRI members are connected by one ocean and we have a common vision of ensuring that financial services are widely available, easily accessed and used responsibly. We have much to learn from each other through peer learning, including exchanges, strategic collaboration and shared infrastructure development. 

Looking across the region, what type of progress in financial inclusion is being made?  

I’m impressed by the progress our members are making with the implementation of NFIS and around National Payment Systems. Equally, in a region particularly affected by climate change and extreme weather events, our members are developing policies that enable mitigation and build their resilience to climate impacts, with innovations such as Green Finance Taxonomy and Parametric Microinsurance.  

Perhaps the most exciting progress involves leveraging the potential of digital technology to achieve a more inclusive society, and to increase access to services and economic opportunities. We will see members announce projects and initiatives around Digital ID, e-KYC, and Standardized QR codes – there are exciting times ahead! 

How do you see the main challenges to financial inclusion in the Pacific? 

I look forward to learning more about this in my exchanges with members in the months ahead. Whilst some barriers are common to most, there might be challenges unique to some. From my perspective, common challenges would be financial education, the adoption or uptake of digital products and services, and cyber and security challenges.  

Gender is a big and common challenge. Alongside the need for gender sensitive policies, we need sex disaggregated data. Some of our members have made headway here, and I am optimistic of great progress as our members focus on sustainable usage of quality financial services by women, and learn from the network and work to develop and implement their respective gender sensitive policies and regulations.