Africa’s financial service providers reach more individuals than ever before. However, challenges remain that undermine the contribution of these services to the welfare of many Africans.  

Unintended consumer friction points such as over-indebtedness, late credit repayments or defaults, insurance lapses or dormant accounts have left many providers seeking better ways to achieve positive customer outcomes.

We have been encouraged by our engagements with a new generation of providers who have expressed a common goal of applying behavioural science insights to resolve these frictions and improve the outcomes consumers get from financial services. These providers range from new entrants such as fintechs and virtual marketplaces to more traditional players such as mobile network operators, banks, insurance companies and payments providers.

To support their efforts, we will be hosting our first Behavioural Science Academy in Cape Town in June. The academy will bring together 15 financial services providers from Southern, East and West Africa to match real customer challenges with practical behavioural interventions. Partnering with the behavioural scientists from Irrational Labs, we are translating international expertise to the unique African context.   

The last event of the academy will be a meet-up at Youngblood Africa where participants can connect with the broader behavioural science community in South Africa to exchange ideas and experiences.   

If you’re interested in learning more about the Behavioural Science Academy or the meet-up event, please follow the conversation on social media with #BeSciAfrica or contact Alessandro Nava.  

insight2impact (i2ifacility) was funded by Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in partnership with Mastercard Foundation. The programme was established and driven by Cenfri and Finmark Trust.