Queen Máxima in Ethiopia: May 13-15

As a special advocate of the Secretary-General of the United Nations for inclusive finance for development and at the invitation of the government, Queen Máxima arrived in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, on the evening of Monday May 13 for a three-day.
Upon her arrival the Queen was welcomed by the Dutch Ambassador Bengt van Loosdrecht and Fatouma Seid, FAO representative.
Queen Maxima started the first day of the visit, on Tuesday May 14, at the UN headquarters in Addis Ababa where she attendeda a meeting with development partners and the private sector focused on challenges and opportunities for financial inclusion in Ethiopia.
Afterwards the Queen went on two field visit.
The first one was at the Habesha beer brewery where the Queen met with farmers who supply barley to the brewery. The brewery gives to the farmers partial pre-financing in the form of seeds, fertilizer and agricultural advice and in exchange the farmers give part of the harvest.
Then Queen Maxima visited the BelCash company, a Netherland based company which provides its Digital Business Technology Platforms to businesses that in 2011 established its local operations in Ethiopia. The Queen was informed about their digital financial services: HelloCash that allows customers to use their mobile phone to conduct basic banking services; HelloMarket, an e-commerce platform that allows business to sell their goods online and digital devices in the Ethiopian market; HelloSolar that allow people to make a domestic payment for themselves or directly receive remittance payments from their family abroad.
Queen Maxima began the third and last day of the visit, on Wednesday May 15, at the National Bank of Ethiopia where she had a meeting with the Governor of the National Bank, Dr. Yinager Dessie.
Afterwards the Queen met with the President Of Ethiopia, Mrs. Sahle-Work Zewde at the National Palace in Addis Ababa. Focus of the meeting was the progress of the two-day UN working visit to Ethiopia made by the Queen.
Then Queen Maxima was received by Prime Minister Dr. Abiy Ahmed and she required steps to give more Ethiopians access to financial services and enhance their chances for economic development.
The Queen also paid a visit to a coffee shop where she met the owner and they talked about the extra money she earns as an agent for HelloCash.

Koningin Máxima @UNSGSA praat in #Ethiopië over belang technologie voor betere toegang financiële diensten. Ruim 65% van Ethiopiërs heeft geen toegang tot bank- of spaarrekening, lening, verzekering of digitale betaalmogelijkheden. https://t.co/kFlXBCHnra #inclusievefinanciering pic.twitter.com/EdMXI2LZYh

— Koninklijk Huis (@koninklijkhuis) May 14, 2019

Filed under The Netherlands
Tagged Ethiopia, Inclusive Finance, Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, United Nations.

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