ABU DHABI, 17th November, 2025 (WAM) -- Ousmane Dione, Vice President for the World Bank's Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan, and Pakistan (MENAAP) region, has affirmed the importance of the UAE's launch of its Financial Inclusion Strategy, describing it as a significant step that opens the door to further progress and demonstrates the country's clear leadership in this domain.

In statements to the Emirates News Agency (WAM) on the sidelines of the MENA Leaders' Summit on Financial Inclusion, hosted over two days in Abu Dhabi by the Central Bank of the UAE in partnership with the Arab Monetary Fund and the World Bank, he expressed delight attending the event, highlighting the region's pressing challenges, including financial inclusion.

He noted that the UAE today brings together the Arab Monetary Fund along with the World Bank in a gathering that reflects strong commitment and clear political will to advance the financial inclusion agenda, not only for the UAE but for the region as a whole.

Dione stressed that the significance of this direction lies not only in modernisation, digitisation and improving financial services, but also in its ability to address, in parallel, the gap between financial and social inclusion.

He added that the launch of the UAE's National Financial Inclusion Strategy, along with the establishment of a leading regional partnership among Arab central banks, represents a historic milestone, as it is fundamentally about transforming people's lives by closing financial gaps and building financial wellbeing for all.

He underlined the scale of the challenge: only 39% of adults in the Arab region have financial accounts, compared with 75% in lower- and middle-income economies. Just 29% use digital payments, while the gender gap stands at 17 percentage points.

Dion emphasised that these figures call for urgent action. Financial inclusion, he said, is not merely about access to accounts, but also the effective and responsible use of financial services - a pathway that ultimately enhances individuals' financial wellbeing, strengthens their ability to manage needs and obligations, cope with shocks, pursue their goals, and gain confidence in their financial lives.