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On 25 January, African Economic Research Consortium’s (AERC) Executive Director, Prof Njuguna Ndung’u,  gave the keynote speech at the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) and ESRC Research Project on Delivering Inclusive Financial Development and Growth: A Workshop in Honour of Professor Christopher J. Green at Loughborough University.

He commended Prof Green’s dedication and contribution to the frontiers of research in economics and finance and to his exceptional contributions to the AERC Network. Professor Christopher J. Green has contributed to mentorship of researchers both through his university academic career as well as his active involvement in the critical capacity building dimensions of AERC.

‘We should continue the legacy of Prof Christopher Green as we seek to provide answers to these and other questions relating to financial sector development and financial inclusion in developing countries, in general, and Africa, in particular,’ said Prof Ndung’u.

Prof Ndung’u also shared his insights into Gaps, Challenges, and Policy Opinions in Financial Development and Financial Inclusion in Africa and suggested three key elements that are fundamental to sustaining the digital evolution for financial development in Africa – ‘connectivity, interoperability, and electronic ID systems’.

The research workshop was  jointly convened by the Centre for Global Finance (CGF) at SOAS and the School of Business and Economics at Loughborough University. More than 70 researchers, policy makers and practitioners from the UK, Netherlands, France, Canada, Cote d’Ivoire, Bulgaria, Israel, Iran, China, Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, and Turkey came together to exchange ideas on preliminary research findings from the ongoing research project on Delivering Inclusive Financial Development and Growth, which is funded by the DFID and ESRC.