Professor Victor Murinde was invited to join the “Governing Global Digital Finance Expert Rountable” together with a small, select group of leading experts to discuss the cross-border spill-over effects of Global Digital Finance Platforms on 18 May 2020. This event was initiated and hosted online by the United Nations Secretary-General’s Task Force on Digital Financing of the Sustainable Development Goals.
The expert roundtable is the natural launchpad for the dialogue. It gathered a small, select group of leading experts to discuss the cross-border spill-over effects of Global Digital Finance Platforms and explore ways in which the governance of such platforms might take greater account of broader sustainable development concerns and be more inclusive of the voices of developing nations, often the most impacted by them. It identified the key issues and reflected on possible approaches to advance more inclusive, SDG-sensitized governance approaches to such platforms. It also set the dialogue forth on various technical pieces to explore.
Background
The disruption and reconfiguration of finance catalysed by digitalization provides a unique opportunity to better align finance with the SDGs, as strongly advocated by the UN Secretary General's Task Force on Digital Financing of the SDGs. The Task Force also pointed out that digitalization drives increasing returns to scale and market concentration, rapidly leading to the emergence of new giants of the global financial system with significant impact on the SDGs and on developing nations, a process exacerbated by the current COVID-19 crisis. The Task Force identified potential opportunities and risks, and decided to advance a dialogue to reflect on how the governance of such Global Digital Finance Platforms might take greater account of the SDGs and developing economy voices. The dialogue is co-Chaired by Achim Steiner and Patrick Njoroge, co-hosted by Switzerland and Kenya, supported by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), and jointly managed by UNDP and UNCDF.