Why are the central banks and financial regulators of these 44 countries gathering in El Salvador?

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

The conference attracted much attention because El Salvador passed legislation in 2021 to become the first country in the world to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender.

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.

The Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI) is holding its annual meetings in El Salvador for its Digital Financial Services Working Group and SME Finance Working Group, which have reconvened in-person meetings two years after the COVID-19 pandemic, 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 group .

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

After El Salvador adopted Bitcoin as legal tender in 2021, the interest of governments, especially developing countries with large unbanked populations, in adopting Bitcoin 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 are undoubtedly the best thinking material for these 44 institutions.

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, General Directorate of Customs of the 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 Finance General Superintendence of Entities, Superintendence of the Economic and Solidarity Institute of Ecuador, 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, Superintendent of Banks of the Dominican Republic, Central Bank of Mauritania, Central Bank of Congo, Central Bank of Armenia, Bangladesh Bank, Bank of Mozambique, Bank Maghreb (Morocco), Bank of Sierra Leone, Bank of Zambia, Central Bank of Lesotho, Central Bank of Liberia, Central Bank of Sudan, Financial Supervision Commission of Mongolia, Ministry of Finance of Zambia, Palestine Monetary Authority, Reserve Bank of Malawi.