Face to face with our Members: Thomas Lammar, Attaché de Légation, Luxembourg Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs – Directorate for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs

Face to face with our Members: Thomas Lammar, Attaché de Légation, Luxembourg Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs – Directorate for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs

An interview with Thomas Lammar, Attaché de légation, Luxembourg Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs – Directorate for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs.

Thomas Lammar is Attaché de Légation within the Luxembourg Directorate for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs. He is in charge of three areas : inclusive finance, private sector engagement and policy coherence.

Could you briefly describe your background and role at the Directorate for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs?

I studied Sociology and Anthropology in Brussels, where I focused mainly on European research. After my studies, I started working outside Europe for NGOs in Ghana and Peru. In 2010, I had the opportunity, through Luxembourg’s Development Cooperation, to work for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Kosovo, New York and Laos. While I was in Laos, the Luxembourg Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs decided to open an embassy in Vientiane and recruited new agents. I joined the Embassy in January 2016. In 2017, I moved back to the Directorate for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs in Luxembourg, where I am in charge of three areas that, I think, complement each other: inclusive finance, private sector engagement and policy coherence. In my daily work, I work closely with partners. I coordinate projects with stakeholders, and explore new opportunities for the development cooperation.

Could you tell me a bit more about policy coherence?

Policy coherence for development means making sure that national policies take into account their potential impact on developing countries. Coordination groups exist at the European and OECD levels. In Luxembourg, there is an inter-ministerial committee for development, which is chaired by the Director for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs and which is in charge of the coherence of the policies. Civil society also plays an important role ensuring that coherent policies are discussed publically and at the political level, as it has happened for instance during the annual parliamentary discussion on development cooperation which took place in December 2017 in the presence of Mr Romain Schneider, Minister for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs.

Could you describe the work and support of the Directorate for Development Cooperation in the field of inclusive finance?

The Directorate for Development Cooperation adopts a holistic approach to inclusive finance. It supports the development of inclusive finance as an enabler; a crosscutting area to work towards reducing poverty.

Our programme intervenes at different levels, and with a diversity of partners: bilateral partners, such as national governments of partner countries; multilateral actors, such as CGAP or SPTF; civil society actors, for instance ADA and SOS Faim; or with networks, like InFiNe.lu, eMFP, or the Microinsurance Network. Our Directorate further partners with the EIB in the area of microfinance, and with social investment funds. An example is the Luxembourg Microfinance and Development Fund (LMDF), which promotes the development of grassroots tier 2 and tier 3 microfinance institutions (MFIs). We also support the work done by the labelling agency, LuxFLAG.

As you can see, the Directorate for Development Cooperation works with many InFiNe.lu members and is also in close contact with regulators, associations and MFIs.

What is your key interest in inclusive finance?

My interests to a large extend matches those of the Development Cooperation, i.e. the use of financial inclusion to promote social and economic inclusion, and to reduce poverty. More specifically, in the field of inclusive finance, it is important to ensure that MFIs are sustainable so that they can continue to exist without our support. I believe in the sustainable effects of profitable MFIs. However, MFIs’ social impact is, for me, at least as important as their financial viability. Social impact and performance are the drivers of the sector. Clients need to be able to trust financial service providers. Without trust and the recognition of their usefulness, clients do not seek financial services.

What do you see as the greatest challenges facing inclusive finance today and how can InFiNe.lu address these?

We live in a rapidly changing world. It is difficult to predict what the future will look like. There are many challenges that lie ahead. The most obvious one for the sector is the development of digital financial services. However, the world is also facing rapid geopolitical and climate changes, which create the context of the inclusive finance sector. Therefore, we need to address these challenges by being able to adjust quickly and in a flexible manner.

On the actual financial inclusion side, a quarter of the world’s population is still unbanked. Financial service providers need to adapt their products to the real needs of the people, based on an understanding of their realities and priorities, and while taking into account their diversity. As an anthropologist, I consider this essential.

InFiNe.lu brings together Luxembourg experts and stakeholders in inclusive finance from various sectors. Having this international microcosm of experts in Luxembourg is an opportunity. InFiNe.lu’s added value is to promote this microcosm and the opportunities it presents outside the country, to facilitate collaboration between the diverse actors thereby promoting innovation, and to allow its members to drive the development of inclusive finance in a very dynamic sector.