Now reading: Private: Herman Smit

Private: Herman Smit


Herman was a Director at Cenfri and the Head of Client Insights for the i2i facility. His current research activities considered the role of behavioural science, alternative data and technology in advancing the benefits of the financial sector to society.

Since joining Cenfri in 2009, Herman’s research has focused on the broader area of financial inclusion and the more specific areas of inclusive insurance, retail payments systems and drivers of women’s financial services usage. His research work in Africa, Latin America and East Asia has centred predominantly on innovation in the delivery of financial services to low-income people. He further led the design and establishment of the i2i facility and co-designed the financial sector assessment tool, Making Access Possible.

Qualifications
  • Master’s degree in behavioural science, London School of Economics, United Kingdom
  • Master’s in economics (specialising in competition and regulation), Tilburg University, Netherlands
  • BCom (Honours) in econometrics, University of Pretoria, South Africa
  • Bachelors in statistics, University of Pretoria, South Africa
Recent Work
State of inclusive instant payment systems in Africa
  Real-time retail payments that enable consumers to send and receive cross-border and domestic transactions digitally are on the rise ...
Data fellows pumped to help government catalyse data use
Data can be used to improve policy decisions as well as to better understand the outcome of decisions taken. To enable this, policymakers need acce...
Kenyans are value maximisers, not cost minimisers
Lessons from scaling retail health microinsurance in Kenya It is often assumed that pe...
The evolution of digital payments: New developments, same fundamental questions
From experiencing the informal remittance journey first-hand on the bus to Harare, to unpacking payment system barriers in Côte d’Ivoire and Tog...
Open finance in Africa: The why and the how for context-appropriate implementation
The promise of open finance has led to a rapid proliferation in countries exploring implementation globally. However, it also comes with costs and ...
Bridging the Gap: Unpacking segmentation approaches and the MSE landscape in Kenya, Uganda and India
Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) are crucial drivers of economic growth in emerging markets, yet there is a persistent financing gap that restri...
The new currency in microinsurance: does data access trump client volume?
Lessons from scaling retail health microinsurance in Kenya We’ve all been ther...
Scaling up health microinsurance in Kenya: Insights and opportunities
How can we prevent high healthcare costs and low insurance penetration from driving peo...
A pocket guide to navigating the structure of the G20
On 1 December 2024, South Africa will take over the G20 presidency. This is a fantastic opportunity for Africa. In his recent Troika ...
Digitisation of government services in Rwanda: Lessons from the data
Rwanda has set ambitious goals to transition from an agrarian economy to a knowledge-based one by ...
Unlocking growth: 3 key opportunities for remittance service providers
Many remittance service providers (RSPs) face a tough balancing act; they’re trying to innovate and grow, but it feels like they’re driving wit...
Leveraging agricultural data for more effective policymaking
Policymakers are challenged to develop policies that will have a positive social impact. For instance, input subsidies for farmers have been widely...
Supporting responsible financial sector innovation in Jordan
Cenfri, in partnership with the GIZ I-FIN project, is providing technical assistance to the Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ)...
R3Lab Toolkit: Regulating and enabling innovation
Innovation can enable insurance to become a powerful engine of growth and development across the continent, but achieving this requires that market...
Data training resources for independent learners
Designed for people who want broad exposure to a spectrum of data science and data engineering content, these data training resources are available...
Open Finance in South Africa: Promising moves, but challenges ahead
The South African Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA’s) publication of their ...
Rwanda Economy Digitalisation Programme launches second phase
Kigali, 08 May 2024 – The Ministry of ICT and Innovation, the Mastercard Foundation and Cen...
A new approach to tackling deforestation
Over the past three years, the Global Stocktake (GST) embarked on a consultative journey to assess progress towards the ...
Navigating a career in data science
There is demand for skilled professionals in the field of data science as organisations are increasingly adopting a data-driven approach. From unco...
Building the fundamentals of a welfare-enhancing digitalised economy
Digitalisation per se has marginal impact; the crux is the way it is leveraged and implemented. We need a better understanding of how digi...
The Africa Fintech Hub – a platform designed to strengthen fintechs in Africa
Fintechs have the potential to significantly improve the options available to financially underserved individuals. Many fintech start-ups in Africa...
Supporting the development of a digital finance index
Digital financial services are transforming global financial service provision and access. Rapid developments in fintech are disrupting and transfo...
The untold realities of women cross-border traders
A diagnostic study on women cross-border traders between South Africa and Lesotho, Malawi and Mozambique​ ...
Guidance on developing a data and analytics strategy
In today’s data-driven world, many organisations recognise the importance of leveraging data insights to make decisions. However, once they attem...
Unique challenges and opportunities for Earth Observation in Rwanda
When I travelled the windy road from Kigali to the Volcanoes National Park to hike up Mount Bisoke, I spent most of my time looking out the window ...
Case study: Enhancing telecommunications connectivity through data analytics
The Government of Rwanda’s ambitious plan to become a cashless economy by 2024 has seen significant efforts and investments in the cashless a...
Then and now: Is Ethiopia at an inflection point after 15 years of insurance underdevelopment?
Very little has changed in the Ethiopian insurance industry over the last fifteen years but there is a po...
Digitising destinations: a tourist’s journey starts online
COVID-19 turned some of us into virtual voyagers. We spent hours scrolling through posts of p...
Open Finance in Africa: Designing context-appropriate approaches for the financial sector
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...
Reflections on the policy evolution in Rwanda’s ICT sector
In implementing the ...
Remittances, a vital contributor to the SDGs
Remittances are a valuable lifeline for Africans, with over USD 100 billion flowing into the continent annually from a m...
Impact from the Remittance Access Initiative
KYC and CDD requirements can inhibit access to remittances for low-income, r...
Catalysing the use of data and digital technology for tourism in Ghana
Ghana’s tourism industry presents an exciting landscape for growth, ...
Mutual digital infrastructure could drive formalised, inclusive payments in SADC
Interoperable payment systems improve the efficiency and effectiveness of retail and cross-border payments. Cenfri worked with BankservAfrica on a ...
Guidance notes to public sector data frameworks
If properly catalogued, classif...
Developing capacity to boost data-driven decision-making in Rwanda
In recent years, Rwanda has embarked on a transformative journey towards digitalisation to fuel economic growth and innovation. The ...
An assessment of customer due diligence and identity regulatory frameworks
Innovation opportunities for enhanced remittance access...
Understanding CBDC and its application in emerging markets
Central banks have cited several reasons for considering or piloting central bank digital currencies (CBDC). These inclu...
5 lessons for designing fit-for-purpose health microinsurance
Gakere is a 49-year-old mechanic from Nairobi, and like ...
Revealing the consumer experience of digital finance in low- and middle-income countries
Consumers face several frustrations with the potential to affect their experience of digital financial services. These include system glitches, ina...
Insurance regulation and innovation: An assessment of 8 African insurance markets
To support regulatory authorities in sub-Saharan Africa in promoting inclusive insurance market development, there is a ...
Consumer protection in digital finance
The authors of this report would like to acknowledge the support of the International Dialogue on Consumer Protection...
Data insights in achieving retail growth in Rwanda
The retail and trade (merchant) sector is one of the priority sectors for the ...
Enhancing identity verification for refugees in Uganda
In Uganda, refugees and asylum seekers struggle to cash out their remittances due to challenging and time-consuming identity verification processes...
Training improves ability to unlock value from data
Capacity-development is a vital part of the ...
What will it take to build innovative insurance markets in Sub-Saharan Africa?
Despite the best efforts of sub-Saharan African (SSA) insurers, most African citizens ...
Lessons on improving remittance access in Africa
Learnings from the ...
Agriculture an important policy priority for Rwanda
Agriculture plays a major role in the Rwandan economy: close to 75% of the population’s livelihood depends on farming. However, the majority of t...
Cenfri joins the Smart Africa Alliance
Kigali, Monday 29th August 2022  – The ...
Responsive and responsible regulation
The value of non-legally binding guidance Regulation is ...
CBDC for emerging markets: realities and expectations
Cenfri has deepened its work on CBDC amid growing interest from central banks ...
What is data-driven decision making and what does it mean for Rwanda?
Nothing illustrates the incredible power of data-driven decision-making more than the recent COVID-19 pandemic. Lamenting the disparit...
Holistic risk solutions for MSME resilience in Egypt
Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in Egypt Micro, small and medium-sized ent...
Building a data skills foundation is necessary to achieve meaningful digitalisation
One of the reasons so much emphasis is placed on digitalisation is...
Private sector partnerships for MSME resilience: Learnings from Africa
Opportunities await insurers and tech providers who are willing to work together ...
Insurance Innovation Dialogue
About the Insurance Innovation Dialogue  To support insurance regulatory authorities ...
The role of different partners for effective MSME insurance
Insurers can partner with digital platforms, lenders and insurance aggregators to offer better products that...
Delivering remittances at the last mile
The role of...
Applying a gender lens to trade finance
Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are considered engines of economic growth and development, especially in developing ...
Enhancing risk assessment processes for improved remittance access
Early insights from IFAD’s Financing Facility for Remittances and Cenfri Our work wi...
The role of women and finance in climate action
A changing climate affects everyone, but it’s the world’s poorest and most vulnerable, predominantly women and girls, who bear the brunt of env...
Opportunities for remittance-linked insurance products in SSA
A demand-side perspective of the risk management and resilience needs of remittance senders from South Africa to G...
Digitalizing farm to table supply chains in Asia
On-demand transport services and insurtech  Whether as a customer or...
Empowering people to solve problems that matter
How Cenfri makes systemic change happen In helping to build...
Whistle before the foul: Lessons from football for financial supervisors
Over the last decade, football fans have increasingly been required to understand financial reporting and legal processes. Within the last season, ...