Now reading: Financial Inclusion

Financial Inclusion


With an emphasis on inclusive financial integrity, Cenfri provides technical assistance, tools and skills building to policymakers, regulators, supervisors and compliance heads looking to apply risk-based and outcomes accountable approaches to money laundering, terrorism financing and proliferation-financing risk strategies. Combining our understanding of relevant risks, familiarity with the FATF guidelines, knowledge of identity and identity-proofing capabilities and leveraging our competency in risk data analytics, we support financial service value chains undertake assessments from national level to the financial product level, thereby enabling the adoption of appropriate customer due diligence practices. 

Cenfri is committed to assisting countries to move off the grey list responsibly, shaping national risk assessment processes with empirical data and working with remittance services’ compliance managers to ensure that low-income households are not disproportionately affected in receiving low-value remittances. 

We are interested in mitigating the longer-term impact of illicit financial flows using digital technology (regtech, suptech and AI) to evaluate and monitor illicit flows and enhance inclusive financial integrity.

We have worked with BankServ Africa, FSD Africa, GIZ, IFAD’s Financing Facility for Remittances, UNCDF and AFI on a range of financial integrity and identity projects.

Deepening measurement in financial inclusion
Financial Inclusion

Deepening measurement in financial inclusion

You manage what you measure and thus it is important to have a measurement framework that drives the right behaviour. Financial inclusion has strong established measurement frameworks dealing with access to and usage of financial services. (e.g. AFI’s access and usage indicators, FinDex’s formal account ownership indicator and FinScope’s access

Digital Transformation & Data

Financial sector innovation can thrive in the absence of data

insight2impact (i2i) is exploring how data can be used by financial service providers to create client value and enhance firm value simultaneously We posed some data-related questions to Marc van der Zon, Head of Central Analytics at Hollard Insurance Company. This topic will be further explored during the invitation-only roundtable discussion

payment platform
Digital Transformation & Data

In Africa, data often lives on paper

insight2impact (i2i) is exploring how data can be used by financial service providers to create client value and enhance firm value simultaneously. We interviewed Morné van der Westhuizen and Alex Shabala to understand the role of data in decision-making at Zoona, an African mobile payments operator. This topic will be further explored during the invitation-only

Delivering on the promise of digitising payments in Zambia
Digital Transformation & Data

Delivering on the promise of digitising payments in Zambia

Digital financial inclusion holds great promise. Last year, a McKinsey report found that digital finance could add up to $3.7 trillion to the GDP of emerging economies within a decade. A recent blog from the World Bank explains that the biggest impact from financial inclusion comes from digital payments and savings accounts. Studies

Digital Transformation & Data

Data can provide confidence to approach underserved markets

Ekow Duker, Managing Director of Ixio Analytics, shares his views on the way in which financial service providers approach and use data. Ekow was the moderator of the insight2impact roundtable discussion, which we hosted as part of the Chief Data & Analytics Officer Africa event in July 2017. During the insight2impact roundtable

Financial Inclusion

Labour unions and financial inclusion in South Africa

Labour unions play a critical role in improving the well-being of their members through promoting their rights in the workplace. As an organising entity with bargaining power, access to a typically low-income membership-base, footprint and in some instances, significant financial resources at their disposal, unions are well placed to facilitate

7 innovations in quantitative research
Financial Inclusion

7 innovations in quantitative research: Broadening the financial inclusion survey toolkit

In a previous blog on 10 innovations in qualitative research, I wrote about the importance of using a greater variety of research designs, methods and data collection techniques when conducting financial inclusion research. Similarly, this blog discusses some innovative quantitative methods that could be used when conducting financial inclusion research. It is