In its efforts to promote financial education to Papua New Guineans, the Center for Excellence in Financial Inclusion (CEFI) recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Western Pacific University (WPU) to further this effort at the tertiary level. CEFI and the WPU signed this landmark MoU to jointly promote entrepreneurship, fintech, financial literacy, and microfinance education in Papua New Guinea (PNG). The MoU between CEFI and WPU signifies a collaborative effort to advance education, particularly in the realms of entrepreneurship and microfinance, fostering mutual growth and development. The MoU outlines several areas of collaboration, including:

• Support WPU with the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Hub programs,
• Set up of the Fintech Hub with support from WPU,
• Curriculum Development and Implementation,
• Monitoring and Evaluation of Program Impact, and
• Industry linkages and Stakeholder engagement.

The MoU was officially signed on Friday, April 11, in Mt. Hagen city by CEFI’s Acting Executive Director, Mr. Peter Samuel, and WPU President, Dr. Janet Rangou (PhD). This strategic partnership signifies a shared commitment to building human capacity, promoting innovation, and equipping students with practical skills to drive economic growth and financial empowerment across the country. Speaking at the signing ceremony, Mr. Peter Samuel expressed enthusiasm for the partnership. “We’re very excited about this collaboration and truly appreciate WPU’s innovative spirit. Attending the graduation today gave us confidence that we are partnering with an institution that shares our mission to empower our people. We look forward to the opportunities this partnership will create.” In response, Dr. Janet Rangou highlighted the value of the partnership for student development, saying: “We hope this collaboration will allow us to equip our students with lifelong, practical skills that will serve them and their communities long after graduation.” Meanwhile earlier during that day, Mr. Samuel and his team attended WPU’s inaugural graduation ceremony at its campus in Ialibu, Southern Highlands Province. A total of 99 students graduated in various disciplines, including Certificate in Higher Education, Bachelor of Arts in International Business Management, Bachelor of Science in Computer Networks, and Bachelor of Science in Computer Programming.