Cenfri contributes to building the fundamentals of welfare-enhancing digital economies. We prioritise digital transformation that is inclusive, sustainable, opportunity-creating and has appropriate safeguards. Digital transformation underpins much of our work and ranges from payments digitalisation to digital economy diagnostics, and digital skills assessments to direct digitalisation support.
Cenfri also collaborates with policymakers and other public and private sector stakeholders in data-driven decision-making that is calibrated to the data available and is designed to strengthen the existing skills and data governance processes within these organisations. The Rwanda Economy Digitalisation Programme is our flagship evidence-informed policymaking and data-for-decisions intervention, but we have considerable experience in using evidence to generate insights and inform policymaking and business decision-making with a view to improved economic development outcomes. Our expertise in data, payments and digital identity enables us to contribute to current DPI (digital public infrastructure) conversations.
Almost half of Sub-Saharan Africa’s trade every year – USD 362 billion of merchandise trade – settles in US dollars, despite the US accounting for less than 10 percent of Africa’s total trade in 2019. We believe that informal trade is even more dollar-based. This begs the question: what drives
If properly catalogued, classified and shared, public sector data can be leveraged to increase access to services, make service delivery more efficient and inform policymaking. Real-time data on traffic and urbanisation can inform urban planning efforts including mobility, energy and water consumption, for example. Combining machine learning techniques with access
In recent years, Rwanda has embarked on a transformative journey towards digitalisation to fuel economic growth and innovation. The Rwanda Economy Digitalisation Programme, implemented by Cenfri in partnership with the Ministry of ICT and Innovation and the Mastercard Foundation, is contributing to this journey. Our focus is predominantly on extracting
Central banks have cited several reasons for considering or piloting central bank digital currencies (CBDC). These include a desire to enhance financial stability and monetary policy, improve payment systems, and contribute to financial inclusion. However, uncertainty still exists regarding how a CBDC can be designed to promote greater access and
The Remittance Access Initiative (RAI) is a programme set up through a partnership between IFAD’s Financing Facility for Remittances (FFR) and Cenfri. Cenfri is working with a range of remittance service providers (RSPs) to improve access to cheaper, faster, and safer remittance services. This article covers a related innovation that
Consumers face several frustrations with the potential to affect their experience of digital financial services. These include system glitches, inappropriate design, fraud, cybercrime, data breaches, opaque pricing, and more. The Digital finance: The consumer experience, 2023 report, which Cenfri developed for Consumers International, provides an assessment of the scale of
To support regulatory authorities in sub-Saharan Africa in promoting inclusive insurance market development, there is a need to strike a balance between innovation and the accompanying risks that arise. FSD Africa set up the Risk, Resilience and Regulatory Lab (R3Lab) as a platform for capacity-building and peer exchange to assist regulators deliver on
The retail and trade (merchant) sector is one of the priority sectors for the Rwanda Economy Digitalisation Programme. The sector and its upstream activities generate significant economic value and provide income for many Rwandans. According to the 2020 Establishment Census, 57.4% of all 232,283 enterprises in Rwanda operated in wholesale
In Uganda, refugees and asylum seekers struggle to cash out their remittances due to challenging and time-consuming identity verification processes. This is one observation from IFAD’s Financing Facility for Remittances Remittance Access Initiative (RAI), which is financed by the European Union and implemented by Cenfri. Our work focused on the
Capacity-development is a vital part of the Rwanda Economy Digitalisation programme and beyond the hosting of training courses, the aim is to cultivate a hub of data professionals in the Rwandan private and public sectors. These data professionals who interact with, and analyse, data can champion data-driven decision-making and evidence-informed
Almost half of Sub-Saharan Africa’s trade every year – USD 362 billion of merchandise trade – settles in US dollars, despite the US accounting for less than 10 percent of Africa’s total trade in 2019. We believe that informal trade is even more dollar-based. This begs the question: what drives
If properly catalogued, classified and shared, public sector data can be leveraged to increase access to services, make service delivery more efficient and inform policymaking. Real-time data on traffic and urbanisation can inform urban planning efforts including mobility, energy and water consumption, for example. Combining machine learning techniques with access
In recent years, Rwanda has embarked on a transformative journey towards digitalisation to fuel economic growth and innovation. The Rwanda Economy Digitalisation Programme, implemented by Cenfri in partnership with the Ministry of ICT and Innovation and the Mastercard Foundation, is contributing to this journey. Our focus is predominantly on extracting
Central banks have cited several reasons for considering or piloting central bank digital currencies (CBDC). These include a desire to enhance financial stability and monetary policy, improve payment systems, and contribute to financial inclusion. However, uncertainty still exists regarding how a CBDC can be designed to promote greater access and
The Remittance Access Initiative (RAI) is a programme set up through a partnership between IFAD’s Financing Facility for Remittances (FFR) and Cenfri. Cenfri is working with a range of remittance service providers (RSPs) to improve access to cheaper, faster, and safer remittance services. This article covers a related innovation that
Consumers face several frustrations with the potential to affect their experience of digital financial services. These include system glitches, inappropriate design, fraud, cybercrime, data breaches, opaque pricing, and more. The Digital finance: The consumer experience, 2023 report, which Cenfri developed for Consumers International, provides an assessment of the scale of
To support regulatory authorities in sub-Saharan Africa in promoting inclusive insurance market development, there is a need to strike a balance between innovation and the accompanying risks that arise. FSD Africa set up the Risk, Resilience and Regulatory Lab (R3Lab) as a platform for capacity-building and peer exchange to assist regulators deliver on
The retail and trade (merchant) sector is one of the priority sectors for the Rwanda Economy Digitalisation Programme. The sector and its upstream activities generate significant economic value and provide income for many Rwandans. According to the 2020 Establishment Census, 57.4% of all 232,283 enterprises in Rwanda operated in wholesale
In Uganda, refugees and asylum seekers struggle to cash out their remittances due to challenging and time-consuming identity verification processes. This is one observation from IFAD’s Financing Facility for Remittances Remittance Access Initiative (RAI), which is financed by the European Union and implemented by Cenfri. Our work focused on the
Capacity-development is a vital part of the Rwanda Economy Digitalisation programme and beyond the hosting of training courses, the aim is to cultivate a hub of data professionals in the Rwandan private and public sectors. These data professionals who interact with, and analyse, data can champion data-driven decision-making and evidence-informed
