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.

Digital Transformation & Data

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.

Digital Transformation & Data

10 innovations in qualitative research

Demand-side surveys (DSS) in financial inclusion are growing in popularity. These are surveys that focus on the consumers of financial services and, though this increase is encouraging, we find that existing DSS rely heavily on standard cross-sectional survey designs, and often ignore emerging qualitative survey techniques. Sticking to traditional methods is

DataHack4FI Final
Digital Transformation & Data

DataHack4FI Final – Data Science and Financial Inclusion

As a researcher, few experiences are more gratifying than seeing your research come to life. With this in mind, we started our seven-month #DataHack4FI competition, bringing together young data enthusiasts, innovation hubs, development partners, fintechs and financial service providers (FSPs) to mobilise the data market around financial inclusion. From the

Digital Transformation & Data

Transform Africa Summit

Highlights, Kigali, Rwanda, 10 -12 May 2017. insight2impact (i2ifacility) was funded by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in partnership with Mastercard Foundation. The programme was established and driven by Cenfri and Finmark Trust.

Financial Inclusion

New approaches to measuring financial inclusion

Financial inclusion has evolved from a grass-root microfinance movement in the 1980s to a mainstream item on the development agenda. Its increasing prominence is attested, amongst others, by the formation of the G20 Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI), the recognition of financial inclusion in the Sustainable Development Goals and

Financial Inclusion

Diving into the data

Micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) are recognised globally as a major engine of growth and employment creation. Access to finance is their most commonly cited barrier to growth. The IFC estimates that there are between 200 and 245 million formal and informal MSMEs in developing countries that do not

Financial Inclusion

MAP DRC diagnostic and roadmap to financial inclusion

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) may be one of the most challenging environments for financial services. From both a provider and consumer perspective, infrastructure, a rapidly changing financial services landscape and regional disparities pose significant challenges to the market. In 2014, the Ministry of Finance formally requested UNCDF’s

Digital Transformation & Data

DataHack4FI innovation competition

DataHack4FI is an innovation competition bringing together data enthusiasts and financial service providers (FSPs) to promote the use of data-driven decision-making in financial inclusion. 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.

Digital Transformation & Data

The tip of the (data) iceberg in Uganda

Faith owns a small fruit-selling business in Uganda. Like most small business owners in Uganda, Faith started her enterprise with her own income and lacks access to finance to grow beyond the few fruit stalls she owns. She doesn’t keep full financial records and lives most of her life informally