UNSGSA Queen Máxima Pre-Recorded Remarks at GSMA's State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money Launch

The Hague, the Netherlands
UNSGSA Queen Máxima is pictured delivering remarks for the GSMA State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money Launch
UNSGSA Queen Máxima is pictured delivering pre-recorded remarks for the 2022 launch of the GSMA State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money.

H.M. Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development (UNSGSA), provided this pre-recorded video message to commemorate the launch of the 2022 GSMA State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money.

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Ladies and gentlemen,

It is a pleasure to join you for the launch the GSMA State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money 2022. Congratulations on the 10th anniversary of this important publication. 

Over the last decade, we have seen the transformative power of mobile money as a pathway to financial inclusion. Today, mobile money provides a means to transact for more than half of a billion active users in almost 100 countries around the world.

It has helped unlock access to financial services for many people underserved by the traditional banking industry. This includes the poor, women, smallholder farmers and MSMEs.

Yet, our work is far from over.

Economies around the world are trying to build back from the COVID-19 pandemic. We must ensure that mobile money is used not only to transact, but to help everyone access the financial tools required to manage economic shocks, improve their financial health, and participate in an inclusive recovery.

Services should be safe, affordable, and meet people’s needs. They should go beyond payments, to enable more access to products such as savings, credit, and insurance.

A smallholder farmer could be helped if his mobile money provider would work with agriculture suppliers to make it easier to purchase products, such as yield-enhancing seeds and fertilizers. Or if partnerships could give access to affordable and clean energy. This would allow him to increase his family’s income and build resilience to weather economic and climate shocks.

Services should also be widely available, and connectivity should be made a priority. This will require investments in digital infrastructure, partnerships, enabling policies, and improved digital and financial literacy.

While doing this, it is important that we continue to focus on closing the persistent gender gap in account ownership and bridging the digital divide. Likewise, we should continue to encourage active usage, as well as uphold safety and trust in an evolving digital financial services ecosystem.

In closing, once again, congratulations to the GSMA on this milestone. I look forward to the continued important contributions of the mobile money industry as we strive toward a more inclusive and resilient future.

Thank you so much.