About us
Our team
Our board
Our partners
Our initiatives
Geographic scope
Our independent research objectives (IROs)
Impact
Our approach
Where we’ve worked
Initiatives
COVID-19 Response
Digital Africa
Innovation Lab (Innolab)
insight2impact (i2i)
Making Access to Financial Services Possible (MAP)
Risk, Remittances and Integrity (RRI)
Urban Resilience in Africa
Research themes
Behavioural Science
Data and Analytics
Policy and Regulation
Payments and Remittances
Insurance for Development
Integrity – AML/CFT and Combatting Illicit Flows
Measurement in Financial Inclusion
Microinsurance and Health Financing
Technology and Innovation
Insights
Articles
Databases
Interviews
Publications
Podcasts
Videos
Connect
Events
Careers
Get in touch
Project opportunities
Now reading:
Regulating for innovation: How to encourage responsible market innovation
MENU
MENU
About us
About us
Our board
Our partners
Our people
Our purpose
Our initiatives
Geographic scope
Our independent research objectives (IROs)
Impact
Impact
Our approach
Where we've worked
Initiatives
Initiatives
COVID-19 Response
Alongside organisations from around the world, Cenfri is committed to play our part in preventing the spread of COVID-19. All our staff are working from home and we have suspended all travel for the moment. We are also actively looking for ways in which we can assist in limiting any unnecessary economic impacts on already vulnerable emerging economies and to apply our development efforts to build towards more resilient households and economies. We shall continue to work directly with partners and stakeholders to develop innovative and alternative ways to pursue our shared development objectives. This is an extraordinary time in history as much of the world is focused on responding to a single challenge, and it is therefore an opportunity for us to learn from and support each other where possible. COVID-19’s direct and indirect impact on economic development will undoubtedly be significant. While our normal ways of work are challenged, we also need to double our development efforts. Cenfri will seek to use the tools at our disposal to contribute to managing the impact of the crisis on people, particularly those in developing countries. We are not slowing down, and we look forward to connecting with you during this time of…
Digital Africa
An increasingly digital and connected Africa is providing new ways to participate in the economy. As the digital revolution gains ground, we’re focused on a number of questions which explores the digital economy, financial services and livelihoods. Forces These are the key uncertainties and forces that will shape the future of Africans for the next 30 years, such as a growing youth demographic, the changing nature of employment, connectivity and the effects of technology, the rise of super platforms and climate change. Scenarios The scenarios for Africa’s digital future aim to stimulate a discussion around the choices that decision-makers in Africa have to make in responding to forces and uncertainties that shape the continent’s digital economy.
Innovation Lab (Innolab)
We share our findings in behavioural science, alternative data, high impact business models and ecosystem creation and support through collaborative projects, convenings, practical training and programmes. Innovation of various kinds is critical to achieve greater economic and digital inclusion for individuals – and it doesn’t happen in a vacuum. A variety of stakeholders, an enabling environment and other factors are needed for innovation ecosystems to flourish. These ecosystems consist of, among others, innovation hubs, higher education institutions, investors, competitions, providers of alternative training, mentors, start-ups, innovative corporates, and many more. Our inclusive innovation and ecosystem engagements have spanned various research areas, including insurance, health financing, remittances and new technologies in distribution. Our InnoLab projects have linked African financial service providers with counterparts in Latin America to share lessons and experiences. From the streets of Maputo to the villages of the Eastern Cape, we draw on our engagements with end-users of financial services to better understand their needs and the ways in which they want to interact with financial service providers. We have evaluated and helped design insurance and banking products, with a keen focus on building better services that provide high value to clients. Our work aims to understand and…
insight2impact (i2i)
Making Access to Financial Services Possible (MAP)
Risk, Remittances and Integrity (RRI)
Urban Resilience in Africa
Urban resilience is a critical element of sustainable development. Resilience relates to the capacity of individuals, communities, institutions and systems to absorb and address an increasingly complex range of shocks. More resilient cities contribute to development regardless of whether disaster strikes, by avoiding losses, unlocking economic potential by de-risking investment, and generating development benefits through improved risk mitigation and management. We’re focused on how to build more sustainable, insurable cities and infrastructure by: Generating evidence to underwrite for urban resilience Developing data and risk models to shape products and collaboration Creating platforms for dialogue and action Building underwriter capacity to manage infrastructure risk This body of work focuses on resilience as an ongoing process for cities to survive and thrive.
Research themes
Research themes
Behavioural Science
Behavioural science seeks to understand the underlying factors that influence judgements and decision-making. These can relate to the individual or to the contextual environment. Someone living with very little income, for example, will find it more difficult to make long-term decisions around savings or accessing credit. Their circumstances will force them to focus on their immediate needs compared to someone who might be under less constrained circumstances. A good example of this is when low-income adults borrow from informal providers at very high-rates for consumption. Integrating behavioural insights into our data collection and analysis strategies can advance our understanding and predictions of financial behaviour and guide us to design financial services that really help adults achieve their goals. With current innovations in survey design and data collection, we can test these insights quicker and learn faster. As part of our global i2i programme, we have looked into the barriers and opportunities for integrating new sources of data (e.g. social media) into financial service decision-making that can change the way we do business.
Data and Analytics
Policy and Regulation
We use our expertise in a variety of financial sectors, in advising the development of inclusion-friendly financial sector policy and regulation. The work we do on any component of the financial sector is always placed within the broader financial policy and regulatory framework, and within a clear understanding of market dynamics and trends. Our work leverages all financial sector players, including commercial financial service providers, towards providing financial services to lower-income households. Whilst much of our work focuses on policy and regulatory outcomes, we do this in support of private financial sector development. Our extensive research in the area of financial policy and regulation spans Africa, Latin America and Asia.
Payments and Remittances
Cross-border and domestic money transfers play a critical role in the financial strategies of low-income households and present many opportunities to extend financial inclusion. Our extensive research on remittances spans sub-Saharan Africa and forms part of our dedicated programme on risk, remittances and integrity.
Insurance for Development
Integrity – AML/CFT and Combatting Illicit Flows
Anti-money laundering (AML) and combatting the financing of terrorism (CFT) regulation in combatting illicit flows is currently one of the primary international financial sector standards which may, if not carefully implemented, impact on financial inclusion. We seek to support compliance with international standards in a manner that does not impact unnecessarily on financial sector development and inclusion. We have conducted extensive research in the area of financial integrity as part of our [Add link:] risk, remittances and integrity programme and beyond, across Africa, Latin America and Asia.
Measurement in Financial Inclusion
The increasing prominence of financial inclusion as a tool for development and growth has spawned extensive data-gathering initiatives to measure, understand and improve it. The result is a variety of new measurement frameworks leveraging this data. Early indications suggest that the financial inclusion strategies developed and guided by these measurement frameworks may not be leading to the results that policymakers want to achieve. Our work under the global [Add link:] i2i programme produces dedicated research in the area of financial inclusion measurement
Microinsurance and Health Financing
Microinsurance refers to the provision of insurance to lower-income households. If appropriately designed and intermediated, insurance products can play an important role in reducing vulnerability for low-income households as well as presenting profitable markets for commercial insurance providers. In addition, ensuring well-functioning health financing systems is a critical element of development policy and the delivery of health services. We have done extensive work on the regulation and development of microinsurance and health financing markets in Africa, Latin America and Asia.
Technology and Innovation
Distribution of financial services is a key constraint to extending financial services to low-income markets. Traditional networks are often costly, cumbersome and intimidating for low-income clients to use. As a result, much attention is currently placed on the development of new technologies (e.g. mobile phones) and business models (e.g. branchless banking) and on creating the regulatory space for these models to develop. Embracing technology in this regard will benefit not only the extension of banking networks, but also the distribution of all other non-bank financial services. We, therefore, see this as a key focus area in support of financial inclusion. Our work on new technology and distribution spans Africa and Latin America.
Insights
Insights
Articles
Databases
Interviews
Publications
Podcasts
Videos
Connect
Connect
Events
Careers
Get in touch
Project opportunities
WP_Term Object ( [term_id] => 34 [name] => Podcasts [slug] => podcasts [term_group] => 0 [term_taxonomy_id] => 34 [taxonomy] => category [description] => [parent] => 0 [count] => 3 [filter] => raw [cat_ID] => 34 [category_count] => 3 [category_description] => [cat_name] => Podcasts [category_nicename] => podcasts [category_parent] => 0 )
Podcasts
Listen to interviews and recordings about our latest research and activities
Regulating for innovation: How to encourage responsible market innovation
For regulators, the dual implications of innovation make it a critically important but challenging topic to address. Regulators with a mandate to [...]
Interview with Jessica Colaço, Co-Founder Brave Ventures Labs
Listen to the interview with Jessica Colaço, Co-Founder Brave Ventures Labs on the DataHack4FI Innovation Competition in [...]
Interview with Anthony Mabonga, Credit Risk Analyst at M-Kopa
Listen to the interview with Anthony Mabonga, Credit Risk Analyst at M-Kopa on the DataHack4FI Innovation Competition in [...]
t
Keep up to date with Cenfri News and Events
Sign up to our newsletter
Newsletter
Your email address
*
What aspects of Cenfri are you interested in?
*
Behavioural Science
Data and Analytics
Policy and Regulation
Insurance for Development
Integrity – AML/CFT and Combatting Illicit Flows
Measurement in Financial Inclusion
Microinsurance and Health Financing
Remittances
Technology and Distribution
×
The Insurtech Tracker
Fill in your details below to download the tracker:
Name
*
First
Email
*
Institution
*
Why are you interested in the Insurtech Tracker? (Optional)
×
