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
Digitalisation per se has marginal impact; the crux is the way it is leveraged and implemented. We need a better understanding of how digital transformation could create welfare-enhancing societal outcomes. Where does the impact break down and why? What are the risks of negative impacts and how to manage societies’
Fintechs have the potential to significantly improve the options available to financially underserved individuals. Many fintech start-ups in Africa, however, struggle to reach the scale and level of maturity that would make them viable alternatives to the offerings from traditional financial service providers. This is particularly true for fintechs launched
COVID-19 turned some of us into virtual voyagers. We spent hours scrolling through posts of people hiking to waterfalls, adventurers crossing canopy walks, and families soaking up the sun on blue flag beaches. After one too many posts captioned “take me back”, we promised that if we ever get out
Open Finance can be defined as the sharing of consumer data between financial service providers (FSPs) and/or third-party providers on the basis of consumer consent. Improved use of data and effective data sharing can support a better functioning market by facilitating greater competition and enabling innovation within the financial sector.
Education is of fundamental importance to Rwanda’s economy; and the country has high policy priorities in providing access across the country. Primary and secondary education are free but there are other costs such as contributions to the school feeding programmes, books, etc. The education sector faces various challenges including low
Agriculture is the largest sector in the Rwandan economy, with 75% of the adult population generating their livelihoods from the sector. Its contribution to GDP and export earnings is substantial, accounting for 26% of Rwanda’s GDP value added in 2020. As part of the Rwanda Economy Digitalisation Programme, we conducted
In implementing the Rwanda Economy Digitalisation Programme, Cenfri has worked with multiple stakeholders and partners to acquire datasets to inform policy that will improve the country’s digital economy. As the programme evolves, there is a growing appetite from policy and decision-makers for Cenfri’s data analysis. Our policy associate, Charles Semapondo,
Rwanda must be cashless by 2024 – that’s the bold target set in the National Payment System Strategy 2018-2024. This policy has strong empirical backing, with a whole range of literature that documents the benefits of digital financial services. Moving from cash to digital payments saves people travel and time
Ghana’s tourism industry presents an exciting landscape for growth, offering significant potential for youth employment and entrepreneurship. However, an effective digital presence is a prerequisite for competitiveness in the global tourism sector and in Ghana, digital technology adoption among tourism operators remains nascent. Data and digital technology increasingly enable tourism
