Whether it is digital payments, resilience for MSMEs or financial integrity, much of our work is underpinned by the desire to create more inclusive financial systems and services. Cenfri has successfully implemented several multi-year financial inclusion programmes:
Making Access to Financial Services Possible or MAP (in partnership with UNCDF and FinMark Trust)
insight2impact or i2i (in partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Mastercard Foundation)
Risk, Remittances and Integrity or RRI (with FSD Africa)
Remittance Access Initiative (with IFAD’s Financing Facility for Remittances)
Our view is that while financial inclusion targets (such as the percentage of adults with a bank account) are valid, they don’t tell you much when tracked in isolation. It is important to understand whether people use their financial services, and if so, whether this enables them to meet their needs. We have developed six financial inclusion measurement frameworks that outline this expanded understanding of financial inclusion.
DataHack4FI country winner discovering the prospect of using financial management and accounting systems to generate credit scores Almost half the micro-, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Zambia – comprising approximately 80% [1] of Zambia’s private-sector businesses – perceive the lack of access to credit as a significant hurdle to their
Targeting small businesses with personalised business advice and predicting successful loan applications Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) play a key role in economic development, but they face challenges in accessing finance. This case study explores a Tanzanian initiative that aims to support MSMEs – particularly those owned by women and youth –
Against the backdrop of the financial sector playing a key role in mobilising resources to achieve economic growth, Zimbabwe has in recent times seen severe macroeconomic constraints and hardship. Over the past two decades, the country’s financial sector has learnt (or not learnt) a number of lessons – lessons that
A case study on DataHack4FI Innovation Award winner for Tanzania A-trader seeks to assist fellow Tanzanians in reaching their financial and investment goals. It seeks to do this by breaking down the barriers faced by these individuals in accessing investment opportunities. Its flagship product, the A-trader Digital Platform, allows beginner
A publication for Capital Markets in Africa Digitalisation: Africa’s future “Across Africa, eCommerce platforms flanked by payments, logistics, tourism and big data partners are starting to lift national economies. Technological disruption is transforming markets and societies across Africa in ways that wouldn’t have been possible even five years ago. And
The recent 2017 Findex findings have triggered another round of important discussions on usage in financial inclusion. They highlight that, in the absence of usage consumers don’t get value from the services they have and providers don’t make money. It’s a lose-lose situation. Understanding usage is important for financial inclusion
Recent Findex findings show that account ownership has increased, globally. But more people than ever are not using their accounts. And while digital payments accounts are on the rise, the number of savings accounts has declined since 2014. These findings have provoked debate about the future of financial inclusion and
DataHack4FI Innovation Award Season 2: Winner of the Women and Youth focus prize for Rwanda In Rwanda, as elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa, rotating credit and savings associations (ROSCAs) and savings groups are a big part of people’s financial lives – especially for women. With just under 1 million individuals making
InvestXD created a digital investment platform for women and youth Understanding drivers of usage for financial products and services is important for (long-term) savings, as few youth and young adults save, and even fewer do so through formal financial services institutions. There is also a significant gender gap, as is
Why focus on outcomes of use? The drive for greater financial inclusion is based on the understanding that financial inclusion has impacts on public policy goals such as socioeconomic development, poverty alleviation and growth. Financial sector policymakers set financial inclusion targets and design interventions towards these ultimate impacts, and development
DataHack4FI country winner discovering the prospect of using financial management and accounting systems to generate credit scores Almost half the micro-, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Zambia – comprising approximately 80% [1] of Zambia’s private-sector businesses – perceive the lack of access to credit as a significant hurdle to their
Targeting small businesses with personalised business advice and predicting successful loan applications Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) play a key role in economic development, but they face challenges in accessing finance. This case study explores a Tanzanian initiative that aims to support MSMEs – particularly those owned by women and youth –
Against the backdrop of the financial sector playing a key role in mobilising resources to achieve economic growth, Zimbabwe has in recent times seen severe macroeconomic constraints and hardship. Over the past two decades, the country’s financial sector has learnt (or not learnt) a number of lessons – lessons that
A case study on DataHack4FI Innovation Award winner for Tanzania A-trader seeks to assist fellow Tanzanians in reaching their financial and investment goals. It seeks to do this by breaking down the barriers faced by these individuals in accessing investment opportunities. Its flagship product, the A-trader Digital Platform, allows beginner
A publication for Capital Markets in Africa Digitalisation: Africa’s future “Across Africa, eCommerce platforms flanked by payments, logistics, tourism and big data partners are starting to lift national economies. Technological disruption is transforming markets and societies across Africa in ways that wouldn’t have been possible even five years ago. And
The recent 2017 Findex findings have triggered another round of important discussions on usage in financial inclusion. They highlight that, in the absence of usage consumers don’t get value from the services they have and providers don’t make money. It’s a lose-lose situation. Understanding usage is important for financial inclusion
Recent Findex findings show that account ownership has increased, globally. But more people than ever are not using their accounts. And while digital payments accounts are on the rise, the number of savings accounts has declined since 2014. These findings have provoked debate about the future of financial inclusion and
DataHack4FI Innovation Award Season 2: Winner of the Women and Youth focus prize for Rwanda In Rwanda, as elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa, rotating credit and savings associations (ROSCAs) and savings groups are a big part of people’s financial lives – especially for women. With just under 1 million individuals making
InvestXD created a digital investment platform for women and youth Understanding drivers of usage for financial products and services is important for (long-term) savings, as few youth and young adults save, and even fewer do so through formal financial services institutions. There is also a significant gender gap, as is
Why focus on outcomes of use? The drive for greater financial inclusion is based on the understanding that financial inclusion has impacts on public policy goals such as socioeconomic development, poverty alleviation and growth. Financial sector policymakers set financial inclusion targets and design interventions towards these ultimate impacts, and development
