Policymakers, regulators and supervisors in emerging markets are under pressure to develop, implement and enforce policy and regulation that conforms to global best practice but is effective locally despite considerable constraints. Cenfri leverages the legal background, policymaking and regulatory experience of key team members and assists via direct regulatory development or policy guidance but more often through technical assistance and skills building.
Much of our work has been in the financial sector across Africa, Asia and Latin America. This includes an impressive “regulating for innovation” portfolio in support of financial sector regulators who are grappling with innovation or market development mandates in regulatory environments that do not effectively accommodate the range of risks presented by new financial service innovations. We also support improved digital and data governance in Africa. Examples range from creating a set of scenarios on the possible digital futures in Africa, to developing a data-sharing policy for the Government of Rwanda and researching fit-for-context open finance solutions for Africa.
Innovation can enable insurance to become a powerful engine of growth and development across the continent, but achieving this requires that market players and regulators work together to build an ecosystem in which responsible innovation can thrive. For regulators, doing so means not only understanding the current state of innovation
Nothing illustrates the incredible power of data-driven decision-making more than the recent COVID-19 pandemic. Lamenting the disparities in genomic sequencing data from high versus lower-middle income countries, Professor Happi, from the African Centre of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases in Nigeria, has talked about the pressure they experienced early
Recent research by insight2impact [1] shows the number of digital platforms – virtual marketplaces – in operation across Africa increased by 37% between 2018 and 2019. These platforms had already been estimated to provide income-generating opportunities to 4.8 million workers across seven countries in 2018. As industries affected by physical-distancing
Africa is experiencing a wave of digital platform businesses emerging and few economic sectors are untouched by their influence. Relying predominantly on mobile-app-based technology, digital platforms have an impact on livelihoods through matching supply and demand of goods and services, opening up new channels for employment and distributing additional value-added
In our previous article, we reflected on the different ways that stakeholders can ensure the Cape Town tech ecosystem produces valuable innovation that is as inclusive as possible. While writing that article, the world changed. With many countries now applying varying degrees of social distancing, and with South Africa having
As Beth Rhyne captured in her recent blog on Nextbillion, before COVID-19 an alarmingly large portion of adults around the world were not financially resilient. Gallup asked people how long they could meet their basic needs if their income stopped – by drawing on reserves or selling something. The percentage
“The idea is that tensions and challenges in the city region also point to opportunities for innovation and that effectively harnessing the city’s diversity could provide Cape Town’s innovation ecosystem with a competitive advantage and distinguishing identity.” Last year, Cape Town made the top 30 global tech cities in the
A synthesis report on what we’ve learned As we set out to understand what our financial inclusion measurement quest would be, it became apparent that it matters what you try to measure. Financial inclusion targets (percentage of adults with a bank account, say) remain valid, but they don’t tell you
Digital technologies are reshaping economic opportunities in Africa The spread of mobile phones has boosted access to digital financial services, information and networks. Increasing smartphone penetration has also created new income opportunities via digital platforms, social media and other apps where young Africans can connect, sell goods and services, or
Policymakers, development organisations and sometimes even private sector players, often rely on financial inclusion data uncovered through consumer or ‘demand-side’ surveys. However, insight2impact has been exploring the analysis of financial transaction data to generate new insights on people’s financial behaviour. We have partnered with government institutions and commercial banks to
How can young people in Africa develop the right skills for employment and income in the digital economy? Our landscaping study on digital skills in Africa explored this issue and trends on the future of work in Africa. The approach of this study focused on identifying recommendations to support digital
