0:13 We [music] give them services in terms
0:15 of getting their withdrawals and
0:17 deposits done and opening their accounts.
0:25 >> We are building digital identity [music]
0:27 for the underprivileged nations of the
0:29 world. Our hope is to make it easy for
0:31 people to be part of the digital economy.
0:39 This system is going to [music]
0:41 bring the underbanked and underserved
0:50 People [music] depend on me especially
0:52 pension holders. We have to give them a
0:54 good service. People
0:56 People
0:57 have come [music] accustomed to digital
0:59 payment system, people are demanding more.
1:01 more.
1:03 >> When we see [music] that we have
1:05 millions of people who have been issued
1:08 IDs, it actually gives us a sense of
1:10 satisfaction on one [music] hand, but it
1:12 also shows us that we have billions more
1:14 to cover.
1:17 >> It feels rewarding to know that my work
1:17 is [music]
1:20 impacting someone beyond me, but it also
1:36 >> We can take a round of applause. Thank
1:45 From digital identity systems to
1:47 integrated payment systems. Ladies and
1:50 gentlemen, this next session is going to
1:53 be about surfacing some of the
1:56 leadership choices, the policy choices
1:59 and we are so so grateful that we have
2:03 uh Mr. Sanjay Jane uh who is the DPI
2:05 director at the Gates Foundation who has
2:08 graciously extended his time to be with
2:10 us today and will be kicking off this
2:13 particular session uh with some remarks
2:17 to help us frame this conversation.
2:18 Very soon thereafter, ladies and
2:20 gentlemen, we're going to be broadening
2:23 the conversation and welcoming some of
2:24 the leaders that you are seeing on
2:27 screen. We have uh her excellency
2:29 Veronica Anduva here with us. She is of
2:32 course the secretary general uh of the
2:34 East African community and from her will
2:37 lead into uh some of the efforts in uh
2:40 DPI that are emanating out of the East
2:42 African community and the extent to
2:44 which they are fueling regional
2:45 integration. and they are deepening
2:48 trade and of course unlocking growth. We
2:50 are going to be also making our way to
2:52 West Africa where we're going to be
2:56 hearing from Mr. Premier Ouo who is the
2:58 managing director and chief executive
3:00 officer of the Nigeria interbank
3:02 settlement system and really getting
3:04 into the conversation of what does it
3:07 take to build trust and confidence in
3:10 digital payment systems. And it is quite
3:12 fitting that while we find ourselves
3:14 here in South Africa on the eve of the
3:17 G20 summit that we take a moment to
3:19 reflect backwards and hear from somebody
3:22 who comes from the presidency in Brazil
3:24 and that is of course Madame Beatatric
3:27 uh uh Vasconteos. Uh I had to make sure
3:30 that I get my pronunciation right there.
3:32 Uh she is the deputy secretary uh for
3:34 digital transformation in the presidency
3:37 in Brazil. And so she too will be
3:39 sharing some of her thoughts of the
3:42 journey uh of DPI not only in Brazil in
3:45 the broader region but most importantly
3:48 what do we carry on uh from the G20 in
3:51 Brazil back here and into South Africa.
3:52 So it's going to be an absolutely
3:54 phenomenal uh conversation. But what's
3:57 left for me to do at this particular
3:59 moment is to ask you to join me in a
4:03 very warm Captonian South African
4:06 African round of applause as we welcome
4:07 Sanjay onto the podium. Let's give him a
4:22 Thank you Nipo. I want to first call out
4:25 the critical moments because it shows
4:27 why the work you all are doing is so
4:30 important. The first two decades of the
4:33 21st century brought more progress for
4:36 more people in more places than at any
4:38 time in history. The number of kids
4:40 dying before their fifth birthdays has
4:42 fallen by half. The number of people
4:44 living in extreme poverty has fallen by
4:47 2/3. Today, however, the resources to
4:49 help continue that progress are being
4:51 abruptly cut back with countries
4:53 slashing more than $30 billion in aid
4:56 over the past year alone. In a future of
4:58 more limited resources, we have two
5:00 options. We can resign ourselves to
5:03 slower progress or as Nandan just
5:05 pointed out, we can work smarter with
5:07 the resources that we do have,
5:08 harnessing new technologies to help
5:11 countries do more with less. And that's
5:14 where you all come in. Your work is
5:16 creating exciting new possibilities to
5:19 connect people affordably and at scale
5:21 with the information, services, and
5:23 resources they need to create better
5:26 lives for themselves. Uh with that, I
5:28 want to introduce you to MSCO. Uh MSCO
5:30 is a small holder farmer in the Oroia
5:33 region of Ethiopia. As you know, many
5:35 small holder farmers, particularly
5:38 women, have long been disconnected from
5:40 information about things like the seed
5:43 varieties that can withstand changing
5:45 weather patterns and from the markets
5:46 that they need to sell their crops at a
5:49 fair price. They're often forced to sell
5:51 through middlemen who offer them below
5:54 market price and pocket the rest.
5:55 Fortunately, Ethiopia has been
5:58 developing DPI that enables tools and
6:01 services to support these farmers. Using
6:05 Ethiopia's digital ID system, FIDA, MSCU
6:06 will soon be able to register as a
6:09 farmer, geotag her land, and use AI
6:11 enabled tools to get the information in
6:14 the language she speaks, tailored to the
6:16 soil and weather patterns she
6:18 experiences so that she can boost her
6:20 yields and grow a greater variety of
6:23 more resilient crops. She can then see
6:25 the fair market price for those crops
6:27 and sell directly to buyers using
6:30 Ethiopia's e- payments apparass so that
6:33 her work earns what it deserves. And
6:35 that's just the beginning. In the coming
6:37 years, we hope that if she gets
6:39 pregnant, she'll be able to go to the
6:41 clinic, connect to her patient record
6:44 using her digital identity, and use AI
6:46 enabled antiatal sensors to see if she
6:50 has a an at risk pregnancy. By the time
6:52 her child is in school, she'll be able
6:54 to pay his school fees digitally, and
6:56 his teachers will have access to online
6:57 curriculum that gives them a clear
7:00 picture of what he's mastered, what he's
7:02 struggling with, and what tools they can
7:05 use to help him learn. As he grows, he
7:06 will have a digital diploma that
7:08 simplifies the process of applying to
7:11 jobs or further schooling. He'll be able
7:13 to set aside money in a digital savings
7:16 account, so he has resources to invest
7:18 in his future. And if he needs a loan,
7:20 he'll have a financial record that
7:22 allows him to borrow money at a fair
7:25 price so he can pursue his goals.
7:27 Multiply possibilities like these across
7:30 an entire population, and you can see
7:32 how DPI will be transformative for
7:34 building human capital and spurring
7:37 economic growth. But meeting this
7:40 potential is not inevitable. In order
7:41 for the countries represented in this
7:43 room and beyond to reap the full
7:46 benefits of DPI, these systems must be
7:48 designed for the public good led by
7:50 nations themselves and grounded in the
7:53 trust of the people who use them. I'll
7:56 take each of these in turn. First, as
7:59 nations invest in digitalization, many
8:01 partners have come forward offering to
8:03 help countries build digital tools. But
8:06 we have seen that in some cases, these
8:08 tools aren't as effective as countries
8:10 hope. uh either because they're designed
8:12 to extract a significant profit or
8:14 because they're designed for a specific
8:16 use case and don't integrate with other
8:19 key digital services. So we should be
8:21 clear about what actually defines DPI
8:23 and makes it so powerful. Uh we at the
8:25 Gates Foundation are aligned with the
8:26 World Bank's definition which
8:29 establishes DPI as foundational reusable
8:31 and digital building blocks such as
8:33 digital payments, identity and data
8:37 sharing designed for the public benefit.
8:39 Second, we know that countries at the
8:41 beginning of their digital journey for
8:43 them to create the kind of DPI that has
8:46 taken others over a decade to build and
8:48 refine can seem like a massive and
8:51 complex undertaking, especially when
8:53 donors come in offering digital aid in
8:55 the form of many discrete digitalization
8:57 projects. That's why the foundation and
9:00 our partners have focused on developing
9:02 tools and technical assistance that puts
9:04 countries in control. We have invested
9:06 in tools that combine the best ideas
9:09 from DPI deployments across the world
9:11 into open source platforms that allow
9:14 countries to customize the technology to
9:16 meet their own unique needs. Uh MOSIP
9:19 for identity systems and Mojaloop for
9:21 payment systems. Countries have also had
9:23 success working with private sector
9:24 partners or creating their own versions
9:27 of core digital services. Our goal is to
9:29 help the world move in the words of
9:31 Prime Minister Modi from a time of
9:34 digital aid to digital empowerment. So
9:36 we are encouraging donors to rally
9:39 around platforms like the World Bank DPI
9:42 trust fund or co-develop that offer
9:43 coordinated support and put countries in
9:45 the driver's seat as they develop their
9:48 own DPI strategies. That brings me to
9:50 the third and perhaps most essential
9:53 attribute of DPI that it is grounded in
9:55 the trust of the people who use it.
9:57 We've already heard about how vital it
9:59 is that people trust these systems and
10:01 have confidence that their personal data
10:03 or hardearned resources will be secure.
10:06 Yesterday when Maduker asked people in
10:09 this room how to design DPI, trust,
10:11 inclusion and interoperability were at
10:13 the top of that list. So establishing
10:15 appropriate policies and regulations to
10:18 make DPI safe, secure, and inclusive is
10:21 just as important as building the tech
10:23 platforms themselves. A great start has
10:25 been made at the global level with the
10:27 universal DPI safeguards framework which
10:30 nations like Nigeria, South Africa and
10:32 Brazil have focused on putting into
10:34 place. It's absolutely critical that
10:36 countries get this right and invest in
10:38 digital public infrastructure that is
10:41 for the public good nationled and
10:42 grounded in the trust of their own
10:45 people. The countries who do have this
10:47 foundational infrastructure in place
10:49 will have extraordinary possibilities at
10:51 their fingertips to build the next
10:53 generation tools and services that can
10:56 transform societies if that is they
10:58 focus on developing them for the people
11:00 who need them most. Just this morning,
11:03 co-develop shared the results of a
11:05 survey of everyday people in six African
11:07 countries. One of the key findings
11:09 centered on entrepreneurship. people
11:11 said they would feel encouraged to start
11:13 or grow a business if key elements of
11:16 DPI were in place. Four in 10 cited
11:19 secure digital payments and one in three
11:21 cited digital identity. So the final
11:24 point I I will leave you with today is
11:26 we have seen time and again that new
11:28 technologies almost always benefit the
11:31 rich first unless we intentionally focus
11:33 on designing them to meet the needs of
11:36 poor and marginalized communities. These
11:38 days people tend to talk a lot about how
11:40 the challenges facing the world have
11:43 never been greater but the truth is
11:44 neither are the opportunity.
11:46 >> Thank you so very much uh for those
11:48 remarks ladies and gentlemen. We're
11:49 going to be building on some of these
11:51 insights some design imperatives that
11:55 have been highlighted uh uh DPI that is
11:58 a public good that is nationled and of
12:00 course is built on the foundations of
12:03 trust. an underlying view on a
12:05 transition from digital aid to digital
12:08 empowerment. What does this look like in
12:10 practice? And so I'm going to invite uh
12:12 our panelists to please kindly join me
12:14 up on stage. Once again, let's give a
12:16 warm round of applause uh for her
12:18 excellency Veronica Duva. Let me welcome
12:21 Beatatric uh as well as Premier. Please
12:44 Thank you so much uh for making the time
12:46 to join us. We have limited time, but I
12:49 do think that uh there are some uh areas
12:51 that we can double click on as we build
12:53 on some of the insights that Sanjay has
12:56 shared. Um Madame Secretary General, let
12:58 me maybe start off with you. Um, one of
13:00 the things that Sunday says is that he
13:04 says that DPI is a once- in a generation
13:07 opportunity that allows us to do more
13:11 with less. take us to the East African
13:13 community and in particular what's
13:16 coming out of the partner states and
13:18 what I'm more interested in is not so
13:20 much what they're doing individually
13:22 within their national boundaries but
13:25 what is being elevated to the regional
13:27 level that is driving regional
13:30 integration potentially deepening uh
13:32 trade opportunities and even driving growth.
13:34 growth.
13:37 >> Sure. Um, thank you so much Nosy and
13:39 great presentation from Sanjay and I
13:41 particularly take away opportunities
13:43 have never been more than they are
13:46 today. So the East African community is
13:49 certainly taking advantage of this and I
13:51 I will sum it this way with everything
13:54 that each of our partner states is doing
13:56 what we are doing as a region is to
13:59 consolidate to collaborate and to
14:01 cooperate. Sure. um because we know for
14:05 you to advance in DPI there has to be um
14:08 cross a crossborder um sense of doing
14:11 things together we have to share we have
14:12 to make sure that we are talking to each
14:16 other and uh allow me to just I've I've
14:18 seen so many examples of the payments uh
14:20 the empessa is something that we are
14:23 very proud of uh back in East Africa but
14:26 allow me to just share two two examples
14:29 and I'll base this on the fact that we
14:31 exist as a community to promote trade,
14:34 free movement of people, goods and
14:36 services. And one of the things that we
14:39 are very proud of is the single customs
14:42 territory. All our partner states can
14:46 talk to each other moving um transport
14:49 logistics, the customs uh declaration
14:52 forms and we are able because of talking
14:54 to that we have a dashboard where we can
14:56 track movement of goods. We can look at
14:59 the driver identification. we can see
15:02 where a truck is at any one time and
15:05 because of this um investment um trade
15:09 has moved from uh movement from border
15:13 let's say Ronda Bundi to Dala Mombasa 21
15:16 days to 4 days. The second example I
15:19 will give is uh East African regional
15:23 payments settlement system um where we
15:25 are investing in making sure that our
15:27 traders can exchange money without the
15:30 money having to go to New York first and
15:33 because of this we have uh now come up
15:35 with a master plan. >> Sure.
15:35 >> Sure.
15:37 >> And the master plan is under
15:39 implementation and that basically
15:42 requires resources and all that. So we I
15:45 I guess to finalize is to say that we
15:48 have managed to do a lot with less
15:50 because of the certain conditions that
15:52 we face uh that have been highlighted
15:55 here including the fragmented digital
15:57 ecosystems, the challenges in
16:00 harmonization of the policies where we
16:01 are now making progress with the East
16:05 Africa digital uh framework uh strategy
16:08 transformation strategy and so perhaps
16:10 I'll say more but I think I want to stop
16:12 there for now just to kick off things.
16:13 Thank you.
16:15 >> I think it's a it's a fantastic opening.
16:18 Um you speak about consolidation,
16:19 collaboration, and cooperation. And
16:21 we're going to double click on that to
16:23 get a good sense of uh practically what
16:26 has that uh looked like and meant. But
16:27 one of the things that stands out for me
16:29 again is to go back to the earlier
16:31 comment uh by Mr.
16:34 to say this is an example of deep
16:36 conviction because in order to achieve
16:38 everything that you've spoken to at a
16:40 regional level there has to be political
16:43 will uh as a foundational point um off
16:46 which uh some of these regional efforts
16:48 are then built. Let me then take us to
16:50 uh let's go to Nigeria first. Premier
16:53 let me come to you. I want to um look at
16:54 the digital payments conversation with
16:57 you and and in particular uh look at African
16:58 African
17:01 is Nigeria's first uh domestic card.
17:03 What's quite interesting has been the
17:06 adoption uh by merchants. I think to
17:09 date uh the number is uh the card has
17:12 processed more than 70 billion naira uh
17:15 which is a staggering uh number. I want
17:17 and would like to invite you to comment
17:21 for us on what does it take to build
17:26 trust and confidence uh amongst everyday
17:29 people in order to really drive the
17:32 adoption of a digital payment system.
17:34 >> Thank you very much and I'm very happy
17:36 to be here. I work for a company called
17:39 Niger Inter Bank Settlement and I think
17:41 uh that company was the first company to
17:45 build the first instant uh transfer
17:47 account based and uh that has been on
17:50 for about 15 years and rising from that
17:52 we study our own local environment to
17:55 determine what the issues are. Digital
17:57 payment is in competition with cash in
17:59 Africa and the main reason because cash
18:01 is instant and if you are building a
18:03 digital payment that is not instant then
18:06 you have an issue. So in building Africa
18:08 with our domestic card scheme, it was a
18:10 response to deal with the market need
18:12 especially in Nigeria. And what we have
18:14 done is to put a card in the hands of
18:16 our people that provide the first
18:20 worldbased instant settlement on POS.
18:22 Every merchant in Nigerian today
18:25 accepting Africa on the POS machine gets
18:27 an instant value. I don't know of any
18:29 car scheme that provide that today in
18:31 the world. Having done that, we also
18:34 ensure that the issue around dispute is
18:37 completely eradicated. Very minimal uh
18:38 dispute issues because that's another
18:41 thing that used to build trust. Another
18:43 major factor was looking into the cost. >> Sure.
18:44 >> Sure.
18:46 >> A lower cost regime for the card both
18:49 for the merchant as well as the uh
18:52 customers and for the banks. And another
18:54 very important uh factor driving the
18:56 adoption is the role of the central bank
18:58 of Nigeria as well as the federal
19:00 government. Africad has the support of
19:02 the last president and the current
19:05 president of Nigeria and uh working with
19:06 Nimsy Nigeria Identity Management
19:10 Company. We have built our identity rail
19:13 on the payment rail of Africa. So the
19:16 government uh payment schemes for the
19:19 less privileged is going to go on that
19:21 uh payment rail and the card. So with
19:23 that there's a whole lot. So if you pick
19:25 up an Africa card today then the your
19:28 NIN or your national identity picture
19:30 can also be uh fixed on that card. So
19:32 with that there's a whole lot of
19:34 adoption across the ecosystem. All the
19:36 banks in Nigeria are currently issuing
19:38 it and uh we intend to do more by
19:40 ensuring that there's transparency in
19:42 transition processing and delivery.
19:44 Thank you
19:46 >> Premier. Thank you very much. I think uh
19:47 you've given us some really interesting
19:49 ingredients that one needs to consider
19:51 when we're trying to build trust and
19:53 confidence. You've spoken about the idea
19:56 of first uh engaging with the reality of
19:58 the market where cash is still so
20:00 dominant but uh being able to um
20:03 supersede that by the value that is then
20:05 given to the ordinary uh person that the
20:08 the the absence or very minimal disputes
20:10 that you're speaking about uh the
20:12 consideration of cost but I think what's
20:14 really exciting is the ability of now an
20:17 a digital ID system that is now being
20:19 built on the back of that payment system
20:21 and it goes back I think to Sanjay's
20:24 earlier comments of doing more with less
20:26 uh and leveraging off those systems. So,
20:28 thank you very much for those uh opening
20:31 remarks. Beatric uh let's let's go to
20:33 Brazil uh and let's make the link
20:37 between the uh chairmanship uh of uh the
20:40 G20 uh by Brazil and now here in South
20:42 Africa. I would imagine that there have
20:45 been uh tons of meeting where there has
20:48 been sharing of uh Brazil's DPI journey
20:50 with South African counterparts and with
20:52 the global south uh more generally. I'd
20:55 love to hear some of the key insights
20:58 that are flowing in those conversations,
21:00 but potentially if you can also give us
21:03 a view on how is the global south
21:07 thinking about um uh DPI that is really
21:10 reflective of the needs of a more
21:12 inclusive world.
21:14 >> Perfect. Uh thank you very much. So
21:17 before talking about the G20 just to
21:20 take a step back um when India brought
21:24 G20 the GPI conversation to the G20 we
21:27 in Brazil we um welcome it very very
21:31 nicely and um um in like in a very
21:35 exciting way because actually um our DPI
21:38 journey uh had started way before the
21:41 the DPI conversation and we thought that
21:43 it was an interesting framing that India
21:45 was bringing into the conversation that
21:48 would help us uh first even strengthen
21:50 um and give common language to what
21:53 we're doing. Sure. Um but also our our
21:56 journey really started more from uh
21:58 government perspective. Our digital
22:00 government initiatives were very strong.
22:03 So when India brought the DPI
22:05 conversation to the table, uh it made us
22:07 think more in terms of the economy like
22:10 the broader societal impact. So that was
22:12 very useful. Um so we took a very
22:15 pragmatic approach to the G20 and um
22:20 last year we we hosted the the the G20.
22:22 Um we decided to continue the
22:25 conversation on ZPI and we hosted a
22:27 meeting uh in Brazilia with
22:29 representatives from India and South
22:32 Africa. We called it the Troa meetings.
22:34 a lot of organizations here represented
22:37 uh were supporting this and it was a
22:39 very good moment for us to reflect on
22:42 what we're doing uh to exchange with
22:45 Indian uh partners and also South
22:48 African. So um after actually right
22:50 before that we'd had sent two
22:52 delegations to India first with three
22:54 people then we decided to expand and
22:57 also bring some of the implementers and
22:59 it was very helpful to start thinking
23:01 more in in terms of what we're doing how
23:04 we could improve. Um now we're sending a
23:07 delegation a focus on education and we
23:10 think the the opportunities are massive.
23:13 Um last week we also launched the an
23:16 agreement with triple ITB um an Indian
23:20 institution um to have a center for DPI
23:23 uh with data prep our IT S so SOE and
23:26 regarding South Africa um I don't want
23:28 to speak on behalf of them so I asked
23:30 them this morning uh what was happening
23:32 and and whether there was any exchange
23:34 that was helpful and what they said is
23:36 that um after the troa meetings in
23:38 Brazilia and some of the bilaterals that
23:43 we organized They actually um were very
23:46 excited about gov.br and they they said
23:50 that they're forking gov.br to to um to
23:53 build gov.za.
23:56 Um also the the payments the instant
23:58 payments uh project uh they say that
24:01 it's been very inspired by picss and and
24:03 it's very exciting to us. I think we
24:05 have a lot to to learn and share and
24:07 whenever we bring all these countries uh
24:09 to the room it makes us reflect on what
24:11 we're doing and what we can do better
24:14 and the fact that we sent a very large
24:16 delegation uh to this event here. We
24:18 have six representatives from the
24:20 Brazilian government and it's not just
24:23 because Cape Town is beautiful but you
24:25 know but um also because we we think
24:28 there's a lot to learn and share. So
24:30 we're we're very excited. A lot is going
24:32 on between these three countries and we
24:35 welcome more collaborations.
24:36 >> Thank you very much uh Beatatrician.
24:38 Yes, of course uh Cape Town is
24:40 beautiful. It is a good reason to be
24:42 here. But it's really interesting to
24:44 hear you speak about uh the
24:47 intentionality of sharing um
24:49 experiences, sharing insights and
24:52 strengthening uh the global south's own
24:54 and south south uh cooperation in terms
24:57 of really imagining a DPI that is truly
25:00 inclusive. Uh and may and long may that
25:03 continue as well. I I want to then maybe
25:05 just go back as we go into another round
25:06 of questions to come back to you,
25:09 Secretary General, and bring the reality
25:12 that in most re um innovations and
25:16 advancements in uh the digital. A lot of
25:19 conversations in this space talk about
25:22 not leaving the people behind and that
25:24 we have to be people centric. But I want
25:27 to perhaps uh introduce also another
25:30 ingredient that not leaving the leaders behind
25:31 behind
25:33 >> because then the leadership are the ones
25:36 who will be in conversations and who
25:38 will be in the spaces where decisions
25:40 need to be made and I think that's one
25:42 of the ways as a region we've been able
25:45 to pull everyone together. Remember that
25:47 the ESC leadership is led by a summit of
25:49 heads of state where the presidents and
25:51 then the ministers and the sexual
25:53 councils in different spaces and we have
25:55 dedicated sessions where these
25:57 conversations happen. Yesterday you saw
26:00 a report that was presented here on the
26:03 advancements on DPI within the ESC that
26:05 has been made possible by having every
26:07 partner sit around the table. when you
26:09 talk about leaders I want to give an
26:11 point like hey you need to work with
26:12 Somalia you need to work with Burundi
26:14 you need to work with this and we help
26:17 maybe build the concepts or the concept
26:19 not so with the help of the various
26:20 partners we have the world bank the
26:22 African development bank the gates
26:24 foundation all these are people who are
26:26 in this space with us uh in digital
26:29 transformation training digital literacy
26:33 elevating it um ensuring that um right
26:35 now we are doing policy harmonization
26:37 and that's a very critical step to
26:40 ensuring that we move together as a
26:43 region. So I think um to sum it up I
26:45 would say um when I meant about
26:47 collaboration I meant with collaboration
26:49 with the stakeholders cooperation with
26:52 everyone who is in the in the space and
26:55 just ensuring that um we pull our
26:58 resources because that's that's I mean
27:01 um it was said earlier that DPI is not
27:02 deep pockets but it does require
27:04 resources and we do not have those
27:08 resources as a region and therefore we
27:10 benefit from that. So I think in a
27:11 nutshell that's what I would say. I'd
27:13 say we are very confident. We've made
27:17 great strides and we see other um other
27:20 regional economic communities coming to
27:22 learn from us and uh see the strides
27:24 we've made uh in this space. So thank you.
27:25 you.
27:28 >> So what I love about that response is
27:31 not only are you giving us some of the
27:33 things that need to be true uh in order
27:36 for DPI at a regional level to really
27:39 become a connector, not a divider. So
27:42 for example the uh the literacy uh
27:44 becoming an important point uh the the
27:47 learning from best practice and using a
27:49 regional blueprint so not everybody has
27:51 to start from scratch. I love the idea
27:53 of shortening the learning curve for
27:55 others. But what I didn't expect,
27:57 Secretary General, is this idea of being
27:59 mindful that we don't leave leaders
28:01 behind because I think the thinking is
28:03 always that leaders are at the
28:04 forefront. And I think it takes us back
28:06 to some of the earlier comments we heard
28:09 to say uh part of what makes DPI so
28:12 important is that it is a public rail
28:14 for private innovation and it is quite
28:17 possible for private innovation to run
28:19 ahead and leave some of the public
28:22 leaders behind. So thank you for that um
28:24 unconventional reminder uh about
28:26 something that we often uh forget
28:28 because we're talking about regions. Let
28:30 me go back to Beatric and then I'll come
28:33 to you. Uh, Premier Beatric, what I'm
28:36 I'm interested in is I've I've heard uh
28:39 you commenting on some of the uh
28:41 cross-pollination of lessons from a
28:43 south south uh cooperation perspective.
28:46 take us into your region in particular
28:49 and potentially highlight for us any
28:53 frameworks or initiatives uh that are
28:56 really um uh driving DPI in the region
28:58 and that you think would be useful for
29:01 other regions to hear about.
29:04 >> Yes. Um we are actually very excited
29:07 about one initiative called the digital
29:10 citizenship in in Latin America. Um it
29:13 started in the red zal uh which is the
29:15 the ministerial
29:18 um committee and and meetings for for
29:21 digital transformation in Latin America.
29:23 So that's an initiative that is actually
29:27 um integrating digital ID across Latin
29:30 America. It started more or less a year
29:33 ago with Brazil and Uruguay and we
29:35 integrated golf. are with the equivalent
29:39 in Uruguay and now we have 40 services
29:43 uh integrated. Um at first the idea was
29:47 to focus on on business um service like
29:50 services for for businesses and that
29:52 still is the focus. Uh now I think we
29:55 have over 12 countries uh in the
29:58 initiative and two days ago we had a
30:00 demo in one of the rooms. uh I think it
30:05 was the um the certification for um
30:08 exporting erva mate uh which is very
30:11 famous in the in the south of of Latin
30:14 America. So we we believe that that has
30:17 a massive impact and we can even think
30:20 more about the impacts for for for the
30:23 economy and the digital economy. Um so
30:25 that's a very very very important one
30:27 that we are excited about. There's
30:30 another one actually with Portugal. Um,
30:32 we realized that there are many
30:34 Brazilians trying to to live in
30:36 Portugal. I don't know if it's a if it's
30:39 a good thing. Um, but one of the key
30:41 issues was that Brazilians couldn't
30:43 prove that their documents were valid
30:46 and Portugal was taking too long to uh
30:48 finish the process. So, we are now
30:51 integrating gov.pr PR with Portugal so
30:53 that the Portuguese government can
30:55 verify uh the documents and make the
30:57 process easier for Brazilians.
30:59 >> Um so I think there's a very big
31:01 potential to to integrate those
31:04 infrastructures across the globe and
31:07 obviously um we would more than welcome
31:10 more partnerships with with the global
31:11 south. But I think that the
31:13 possibilities are infinite. I love that
31:15 the possibilities are absolutely
31:18 infinite and a really impressive list of
31:21 initiatives. Uh some of them still
31:23 emergent but uh one would imp would
31:26 imagine that with momentum uh they're
31:28 going to accelerate and and deepen over time.
31:28 time.
31:31 >> 774 local government areas and some of
31:34 these local government areas. So as uh
31:36 people having access to banks is a
31:37 problem. So but there have been some
31:40 strategic actions taken by the federal
31:42 by the central bank of Nigeria. One was
31:45 the creation of agency banking. So
31:48 agency banking allows people in uh rural
31:50 communities to at least do banking
31:52 through an agent and open an account.
31:55 But one other fundamental action taken
31:57 which is a functional ID card to have an
32:00 account in Niger 3 then you can it's
32:02 limitless but the focus for the unbanked
32:05 in rural areas and to enable them trust
32:08 the system is the NIN and with NIN we
32:11 continue to suck in a lot of uh the
32:14 unbanked and using the uh point of sale
32:17 terminals to open accounts to transact
32:19 makes it a lot easy for them and of
32:22 course the deepening of the USSD code
32:24 across across the country have also
32:27 helped to push uh a lot of adoption. But
32:29 like I said earlier, the Afric was a
32:32 response to dealing with uh Nigerian
32:35 peculiar issues. So one of the things we
32:37 did on the Africa card is to ensure that
32:39 the account numbers and biometric
32:42 details are embedded on the QR code that
32:45 uh they have bank accounts and then they
32:46 are being utilized and I think more and
32:48 more of that until everybody gets sucked
32:51 in. Premier that's uh that was probably
32:54 a really fantastic expression of putting
32:56 people at the center at a level that is
32:58 consequential and doesn't become another
33:01 talk show to hear from you is what is
33:04 one leadership choice that you think has
33:06 to be made
33:08 >> a zero data cost
33:11 >> to promote for me that's very critical
33:13 uh success factor
33:15 >> 2030 is just 30 is just four years away from
33:16 from
33:17 >> thank you
33:19 >> thank you very with an openness to
33:21 sharing data. Uh, Secretary General,
33:23 thank you very much uh for that. Beatric.
33:25 Beatric.
33:29 >> Yes. So, I I I would think that from the
33:31 infrastructure and building on that
33:33 value. I love the analogy that was used
33:34 earlier that your penthouse unless
33:37 you've got the foundation right. Now, as
33:39 we close off, I'm going to do something
33:41 that uh hopefully was not a political
33:44 paper uh premier. It's not a seat. It's
33:46 not an executive summary for the
33:49 president. It is a billboard. The future
33:51 of DPI. I'm going to start off with you,
33:53 Premier. You look the most confident.
33:54 The future of DPI. >> Trust.
33:55 >> Trust.
33:57 >> The future of DPI is trust. Let's give
33:59 Premier a big round of applause. Thank
34:02 you very much. Very much.
34:05 Ladies and gentlemen, as we to invite
34:06 you to turn your attention to the screen
34:09 as we take a trip to the Lagos Business
34:12 School Innovation Lab, uh it's a short
34:14 video produced by the Gates Foundation,
34:16 but I certainly think captures the
34:18 spirit of the conversation we've just
34:20 had. Please turn to the screen.
34:22 >> What do you do when you see people
34:24 unable to save for the things they need,
34:26 grow their businesses, and feed their
34:29 families? Most of the market women you
34:31 see they are hawkers on the streets of
34:32 this market
34:34 >> decide to start work on the associative
34:36 product [music] and um join the SIDFS product.
34:38 product.
34:41 >> The lab exists to solve the problem of
34:43 creating financial products that are
34:46 >> we have over 10,000 customers currently
34:48 [music] in just this island alone
34:50 >> because in the face of every problem
