Cenfri has broad experience in fit-for-purpose payment systems in emerging markets, particularly in Africa. We work towards making retail payments a public good, assisting central banks, payments operators and payment system participants navigate domestic and cross-border payments modernisation in a manner that contributes to economic inclusion. We have worked extensively in instant/faster retail payment systems and in improving access to remittances for low-income households. Other projects range from diagnostic and landscaping studies, developing a national payments vision, to analysing payments legislation and regulation, and feasibility studies on central bank digital currency (CBDC). The convergence of payments and identity, as well as the focus on digitising the entire value chain rather than limited use cases, is central to our theory of change in digital payments. We have worked with IFAD’s Financing Facility for Remittances, the World Bank, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, AfricaNenda, FSD Africa, FSD Kenya, GIZ, UNCDF, BankservAfrica, Finmark Trust, the African Union and the Alliance for Financial Inclusion. |
Real-time retail payments that enable consumers to send and receive cross-border and domestic transactions digitally are on the rise globally. The increasing proliferation of QR codes, apps, tap-and-go card technology, and small-value payments using proxy identifiers (aliases) such as phone numbers and email addresses have made payments one of
There’s no disputing the contribution of migrant remittances to the economic well-being of friends and family back home. For many African countries, the value of remittance flows exceeds that of foreign direct investment. However accessing the money via formal channels can be challenging for recipients who are faced with Know
Recent years have seen large scale de-risking and financial exclusion happening in developing countries, particularly those countries that most need capital flows to finance social services, aid and development. Where regional economic hubs are de-risked, it has a profound effect on the developmental outcomes for the hub itself as well
Central banks across the developed and developing world have begun considering the possibility of implementing a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) to enhance drivers for economic growth and financial sector development such as financial inclusion, digital financial services and national payment system (NPS) efficiency. CBDC is a digital representation of
Many people have had their 2020 plans ruined by COVID-19, but the cross-border remittance opportunity in Nigeria is even more enticing right now. The World Bank expects cross-border remittances to drop dramatically in 2020, but many African players are experiencing a sharp increase in digital person-to-person flows as cash is
What challenges exist around remote onboarding? COVID-19 has caused significant disruptions to insurers’ operations, as they still have traditional business models and rely heavily on physical engagement for distribution. The lack of digitisation across the continent has emerged as a key barrier from our research on the impact that COVID-19
In partnership with Organisation of Eastern & Southern Africa Insurers (OESAI) and FSD Africa, we have undertaken a survey to better understand the impact of COVID-19 on organisations operating in the insurance sector across Eastern and Southern Africa. This survey was augmented by 33 semi-structured telephonic interviews with different insurance
Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI) in conjunction with Cenfri and supported by FSD Africa are pleased to officially launch the Inclusive Financial Integrity Toolkit. Countries in the sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) region have been on a development curve in setting up effective Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Combating the Financing of Terrorism
COVID-19 containment and mitigation measures in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) have restricted the movement of people, goods and services. This has affected insurers’ operations, which, to a large extent, have traditionally required physical engagement. It is also affecting insurers’ ability to launch new products, conclude new sales, collect premiums, service existing
Modern financial crime has evolved significantly over the last few decades. Detecting these global networks of sophisticated crime has become more complicated than solving a thousand-piece puzzle in minutes and with half the pieces missing; humanly impossible. This is the kind of complexity that faces the authorities and institutions at
In an age where we can send mail electronically in seconds at no cost rather than going to the post, it seems odd that people still walk around with pieces of metal and paper in their pockets to pay for things. Yet cash has remained the undisputed king of payments
