Golden Observation | Why the Central Banks and Financial Regulators of These 44 Countries Gathered in El Salvador

At this moment, 32 central banks and 12 financial authorities from 44 countries gathered in El Salvador from May 16th to May 18th.

El Salvador will pass legislation in 2021 and become the first country in the world to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender, drawing much attention to this meeting.

According to public information, the reason why these institutions are meeting in El Salvador is that El Salvador is the host of the 2022 annual meeting of the Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI). El Salvador joined the Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI) in 2012.

Two years after the COVID-19 pandemic, the Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI) has reconvened in-person and is currently holding annual meetings in El Salvador for its Digital Financial Services Working Group and SME Finance Working Group, according to the Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI). , focusing on financial inclusion, the digital economy, banking the unbanked and the benefits of El Salvador becoming the first country in the world to adopt bitcoin as legal tender last year .

According to the official website of the Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI), the vision of the Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI) is to "make it easier for the world's unbanked to access financial services." AFI members are central banks and other financial regulators from more than 90 developing countries, where most of the world's unbanked live.

Following El Salvador’s adoption of Bitcoin as legal tender in 2021, interest in Bitcoin adoption by governments, especially in developing countries with large unbanked populations, has grown significantly. On April 25, 2022, the Central African Republic became the second country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender. The pros and cons of El Salvador's adoption of Bitcoin in the past year is undoubtedly the best material for these 44 institutions to think about.

The 44 central banks and financial regulators gathered in El Salvador include:

Central Bank of Sao Tome and Principe, Central Bank of Paraguay, National Bank of Angola, Bank of Ghana, Bank of Namibia, Bank of Uganda, Central Bank of the Republic of Guinea, Central Bank of Madagascar, Bank of the Republic of Haiti, Bank of the Republic of Burundi, Central Bank of Swaziland and its Ministry of Finance, Central Bank of Jordan, Central Bank of Gambia, National Bank and Insurance Commission of Honduras, Directorate General of Customs, Ministry of Finance and Budget of Madagascar, Monetary Authority of Maldives, National Bank of Rwanda, Rural Bank of Nepal, Kenya Tobacco Association Regulatory Authority (SASRA), National Bank of Pakistan, Costa Rica General Superintendence of Financial Entities, Ecuador Superintendence of the People's Economic and Solidarity Association, Central Bank of El Salvador, Central Bank of Egypt, Central Bank of Jordan, Central Bank of Nigeria, Ministry of Economy, Finance and Planning of Senegal, Superintendence of Banks of the Dominican Republic, Mauritania Central Bank, Central Bank of Congo, Central Bank of Armenia, Bank of Bangladesh, Bank of Mozambique, Bank of the Maghreb (Morocco), Bank of Sierra Leone, Bank of Zambia, Central Bank of Lesotho, Central Bank of Liberia, Central Bank of Sudan, Mongolian Financial Supervisory Commission, Zambia Ministry of Finance, Palestinian Monetary Authority, Reserve Bank of Malawi.