Mayada El-Zoghbi

Press Release

<strong>Washington, DC, September 9, 2019</strong>—Global nonprofit Accion announced today that <a href="/bio/mayada-el-zoghbi">Mayada El-Zoghbi</a> has joined as new Managing Director of the Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion (CFI), an action-oriented think tank that develops insights, advocates on behalf of clients, and collaborates with stakeholders to achieve a comprehensive vision for financial inclusion.

“Throughout her career, Mayada has been at the forefront of the inclusive finance community,” CFI Advisory Council chair Paul Tregidgo said. “This alignment with the focus of the Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion, and her recent work on emerging topics in financial inclusion – like the relationship between financial services and well-being, and ways to extend financial services to the most excluded like women, youth and the forcibly displaced – uniquely position her to lead the Center into the future.”

“For more than a decade, CFI has played an important role, challenging and engaging the financial services industry to better serve, protect, and empower people around the world. I am pleased that Mayada El-Zoghbi has accepted to join as the new managing director. Her extensive experience in research and advocacy position her as the right leader to build on CFI’s strong foundation of innovative, industry-shaping work,” said Accion CEO and President Michael Schlein.

Mayada has been a leader in financial inclusion for some time. She comes to CFI from CGAP, a World Bank-based think tank, where she served as Lead for Strategy, Research &amp; Development, and previously managed CGAP’s work with the donor and investor community. From 2002 to 2009, Mayada founded and then managed a development consulting firm. She has also led numerous technical assistance, evaluation, and research assignments; served as a research director for a USAID initiative; and lectured at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA). She started her career working with several nonprofit organizations establishing inclusive financial institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, and the Palestinian Territories.

Mayada holds a master’s degree in international affairs from SIPA at Columbia University and a bachelor's degree in business from the University of Minnesota. A dual national of Egypt and the United States, she is fluent in English and Arabic.

In its first decade, the Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion established itself as a powerful advocate for the protection and empowerment of underserved clients. It established the world’s first global consumer protection campaign - the Smart Campaign - which has set standards for inclusive financial services that have now been adopted by 100 institutions serving over 40 million people around the world. Its other initiatives include executive leadership training opportunities like the Africa Board Fellowship Program and Harvard Business School-Accion Program on Strategic Leadership in Inclusive Finance; the Financial Inclusion Equity Council, a membership organization for equity investors in microfinance institutions; and extensive research on emerging issues related to financial inclusion.

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<strong>About the Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion</strong>

The Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion (CFI) is an action-oriented think tank that engages and challenges the industry to better serve, protect, and empower clients. We develop insights, advocate on behalf of clients, and collaborate with stakeholders to achieve a comprehensive vision for financial inclusion. We are dedicated to enabling 3 billion people who are left out of – or poorly served by – the financial sector to improve their lives.
<a href="http://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/">www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org</a>
<a href="https://twitter.com/CFI_Accion">@CFI_Accion</a>

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<strong>Media Contact</strong>

Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion
<a href="/bio/virginia-moore">Virginia Moore</a>
<a href="mailto:vmoore@accion.org">vmoore@accion.org</a>
+1 202.393.5113

Mayada El-Zoghbi Is the New Managing Director of the Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion

With support from the Citi Foundation and FMO, CFI launches board effectiveness program for leaders at the nexus of social enterprise and financial services. 

<strong>WASHINGTON, DC, August 27, 2019</strong> – The Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion (CFI) has launched an executive education program for financial service providers serving low-income communities in emerging markets. Through peer learning and exchange, the <a href="/about/what-we-do/board-leadership-for-impact-program">Board Leadership for Impact Program</a> will empower executives and board members to foster client centricity, lead digital transformation, sustain business growth and drive social impact. In partnership with the <a href="https://www.citigroup.com/citi/foundation/">Citi Foundation</a> and <a href="https://www.fmo.nl/">FMO</a>, the Dutch development bank, supporting program implementation and participant scholarships, the Board Leadership for Impact Program will offer multiple in-person workshops per year coupled with a robust virtual portal.

Derived from CFI’s five-year <a href="https://content.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/about/what-we-do/africa-board-fellowship-program/">Africa Board Fellowship Program</a>, which fostered the growth and development of more than 300 executives and board members of financial service providers serving more than 10 million clients in Africa, the Board Leadership for Impact Program will now expand to include early stage to mature companies offering financial services to underserved customers that operate in emerging markets around the world.

“Our experience with leadership development through peer exchange will inform our efforts through this new program to cultivate a community of leaders who have the skills and the network to help their organizations thrive,“ said <a href="/bio/deborah-drake">Deborah Drake</a>, Vice President, Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion. “Tackling challenges like achieving sustainable growth or pursuing digital transformation, particularly as a mission-driven organization, takes strategic leadership at the board level.”

Through role play, simulations and facilitated discussion, participants will gain new perspectives, skills, and knowledge on topics critical to social enterprise growth and impact, including risk management, board dynamics, digital transformation and inclusive digital finance. They will join an active community of alumni of the Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion’s <a href="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/get-involved#fellow-exec-ed">executive education programs</a>.

“By developing and strengthening leadership skills that drive business growth and social impact, our partnership with the Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion will help accelerate financial inclusion and economic progress around the world,” said Florencia Spangaro, Director of Programs, Citi Foundation.

“FMO is a proud partner of Accion for over a decade and we realize that creating a lasting impact starts in the board room. Strengthening the management of financial service providers and enterprises will help ensure business longevity and commitment to underserved customers,” said Gerbrich Salverda, Capacity Development Officer at FMO.
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<strong>About the Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion</strong>

The Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion (CFI) is an action-oriented think tank that engages and challenges the industry to better serve, protect, and empower clients. We develop insights, advocate on behalf of clients, and collaborate with stakeholders to achieve a comprehensive vision for financial inclusion. We are dedicated to enabling 3 billion people who are left out of – or poorly served by – the financial sector to improve their lives.
<a href="http://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/">www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org</a>
<a href="https://twitter.com/CFI_Accion">@CFI_Accion</a>
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MEDIA CONTACT

Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion
<a href="/bio/virginia-moore">Virginia Moore</a>
<a href="mailto:vmoore@accion.org">vmoore@accion.org</a>
+1 202.393.5113

The Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion Launches Executive Education Program for Financial Service Providers to Enable Business Growth and Social Impact

Citi Foundation provides $1.2 million to CFI to strengthen leadership development and capacity building globally.

<strong>WASHINGTON, DC, February, 12, 2019</strong> – The Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion (CFI) and the <a href="https://www.citigroup.com/citi/foundation/">Citi Foundation</a> announced a new partnership to strengthen financial institutions specializing in reaching underserved communities in emerging markets. The Citi Foundation is providing $1.2 million in funding to support the three-year initiative.

“Our partnership with the Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion will help develop and strengthen the next generation of financial inclusion leaders who in turn will accelerate financial inclusion and economic progress for families and communities across the world,” said Florencia Spangaro, Director of Programs, Citi Foundation.

Through peer-to-peer learning and executive education programs, CFI builds organizational and human capacity around the globe to deepen and sustain financial inclusion. Its programs include the <a href="/about/what-we-do/hbs-accion-program-on-strategic-leadership-in-inclusive-finance/">Harvard Business School (HBS)-Accion Program in Strategic Leadership in Inclusive Finance</a> (SLIF), an intensive week-long course providing management and leadership training to those shaping the microfinance industry; and the <a href="/about/what-we-do/africa-board-fellowship-program/">Africa Board Fellowship Program</a> (ABF), a governance focused six-month peer learning and exchange program for board members and executives of African financial institutions serving low-income clients. Citi Foundation funding will support both programs, supporting scholarships for HBS-Accion SLIF participants who demonstrate financial need and supporting the optimization and expansion of ABF.

“We are grateful to the Citi Foundation for recognizing the importance of investing in leaders who are working on-the-ground toward financial inclusion,” said <a href="/bio/deborah-drake">Deborah Drake</a>, Vice President, CFI, and head of the governance portfolio. “ABF and HBS-Accion SLIF alumni gain useful skills and knowledge, particularly around governance issues, as well as new relationships and strong networks that they can use immediately and draw on over time.”
<p style="text-align: left">Additionally, the Citi Foundation’s support will contribute to the launch of a new global executive education program to help C-suite leaders and board members of financial institutions effectively and sustainably serve underserved communities. Arriving in fall 2019, with seminars in Asia and Africa, this new program will focus on governance, risk management, growth, client centricity and other mission-critical issues.</p>

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<strong>About the Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion</strong>
The Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion (CFI) is an action-oriented think tank that engages and challenges the industry to better serve, protect, and empower clients. We develop insights, advocate on behalf of clients, and collaborate with stakeholders to achieve a comprehensive vision for financial inclusion. We are dedicated to enabling 3 billion people who are left out of – or poorly served by – the financial sector to improve their lives.
<a href="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org">www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org</a>
<a href="https://twitter.com/CFI_Accion">@CFI_Accion</a>

<strong>About the Citi Foundation </strong>
The Citi Foundation works to promote economic progress and improve the lives of people in low-income communities around the world. We invest in efforts that increase financial inclusion, catalyze job opportunities for youth, and reimagine approaches to building economically vibrant cities. The Citi Foundation's "More than Philanthropy" approach leverages the enormous expertise of Citi and its people to fulfill our mission and drive thought leadership and innovation. For more information, visit <a href="https://www.citigroup.com/citi/foundation/">www.citifoundation.com</a>.

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MEDIA CONTACT

Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion
<a href="/bio/virginia-moore">Virginia Moore</a>
vmoore@accion.org
+1 202.393.5113

The Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion and the Citi Foundation Announce Partnership to Strengthen and Expand Executive Leadership in the Financial Inclusion Sector

New technology is delivering considerable benefits to the financial inclusion market – but is also creating new risks that service providers need to manage if they are to succeed. This is the main conclusion of a new survey of the risks (or Banana Skins) in the provision of financial services to people in emerging markets who have little or no access to these services.

Technology Risk Is High in Financial Inclusion Market

<strong>Washington, D.C. (June 25, 2018)</strong> — The Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion (CFI) and the Institute of International Finance (IIF), with support of MetLife Foundation, released a report that examines how new types of data and new data tools present an unprecedented opportunity for financial service providers to understand and serve clients—particularly credit-seeking "thin-file" clients who are otherwise excluded from the formal financial sector

New Report: Banks Increasingly Embrace Data to Reach Underserved Customers

Press Releases

Elisabeth Rhyne

Elisabeth Rhyne is retiring. On this occasion, she reflects on “Aha!” moments that revealed the future for Accion and CFI.

Blog Post

Today, after 18 years with Accion, including 11 as Managing Director of the Center for Financial Inclusion, I’m saying goodbye.

It’s hard to know where to begin to say farewell, but to start at the real beginning for me, I go back to a USAID conference 1986 when I heard Jeff Ashe, then one of Accion’s senior staff members, describe the dramatic success Accion was having with solidarity group lending to tricicleros in the Dominican Republic. He announced that Accion was reaching many hundreds, if not thousands (!) of clients, having them all pay their loans back (!!), and covering the costs of lending (!!!).

“There’s gotta be a catch,” I thought, as did others at the conference. “He’s a snake oil salesman. It’s too good to be true.” None of the small business loan programs I knew in the international development arena came anywhere close to those achievements. Actually, Jeff is an extremely persuasive salesman. But he was not inflating those results. Accion was onto something, and it grew from there.

I’ve been a fan of Accion ever since: for its social mission (to give people the tools to work their way out of poverty), its philosophy (marrying social purpose with private sector principles), its skill (both technical know-how and ability to make good decisions) and its <em>mistica</em> (the shared spirit that turns staff and supporters into a family of Accionistas). For over three decades I have watched Accion create breakthrough after breakthrough, and for the past two decades I have been fortunate enough to contribute to some of them.

That speech of Jeff’s was my first Accion-linked “Aha!” moment, but many others followed:
<ul>
 	<li>Maria Otero coming into my office at USAID in 1991, brimming with the exciting news that Accion’s affiliate in Bolivia, Prodem, was going to become a commercial bank. Imagine, an NGO could become BancoSol.</li>
 	<li>Sitting next to Senator Ted Kennedy at the White House while President Clinton presented former Accion CEO Bill Burrus with an award for its work in the U.S. In my excitement, I elbowed the Senator and told him that Accion’s home base was in Massachusetts. He received the news politely.</li>
 	<li>Waiting for an official in Abuja to petition for a license to open Accion Microfinance Bank Nigeria. After greeting us, the man stepped out. “Just a moment. I’ll be right back.” Six hours later, despite many assurances, he had not returned, and we left to catch our flight back to Lagos.</li>
 	<li>The investor meeting for the formation of Accion Investments, on the morning after an enormous snowstorm in Washington. The Europeans wore suits, ties and dress shoes. The American from IFC wore a sweatshirt and unlaced rubber boots.</li>
 	<li>A senior staff meeting in which the shocking realization began to dawn on us all that the Compartamos IPO could increase Accion’s balance sheet by as much as $45 million, turning a scrappy technical assistance provider and fledgling investor into a social impact investing powerhouse. We were elated to think we could receive $45 million. In the event, the IPO contributed over $300 million.</li>
 	<li>Meeting a ponytailed Brian Kuwik at the donut shop at Shoprite supermarket in Koomatiport, South Africa, and offering him a job.</li>
 	<li>Lighting a lamp to ceremonially launch our first India office in Bangalore.</li>
</ul>
Most of these memories represent “Aha!” moments when the possibilities came into focus for a bigger and bolder future for both Accion and the microfinance/financial inclusion movement. And in each case, the vision that these moments created became reality.

Accion took itself, its partners and the field where they didn’t know they could go: solidarity group lending, transforming NGOs into financial institutions, cracking the capital markets with guarantee and equity funds, breaking out of Latin America to become a global organization, and leading the way in fintech for the underserved. I have been lucky indeed to be along for that rollicking journey.
<h2>And then, CFI</h2>
CFI is part of a generous spirit that has been with Accion from the early days: the intent to share learning with and among the other participants in the sector. It is also part of Accion’s ambition to create a financially inclusive world, not just a financially inclusive project.

CFI began when the commercial model of microfinance had swept through the sector and the concept of financial inclusion was starting to emerge. With an increasing commercial and investor voices animating the sector, and with new players who had not shared in the microfinance experience, it became CFI’s role to hold the sector to the high standards implied by the social mission, and especially to urge it to do right by clients.

There have been “Aha!” moments for me at CFI, too, like listening to a veteran political campaign strategist talk and realizing that we could use similar campaign techniques to make a difference in protecting clients – resulting in the <a href="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/program_teams/the-smart-campaign">Smart Campaign</a>. Or realizing that the board members of microfinance institutions are highly important to the success of the sector but were woefully un-supported in their work – leading to the <a href="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/about/what-we-do/africa-board-fellowship-program">Africa Board Fellowship Program</a>. Or hearing Jennifer Tescher talk about financial health – and deciding to see how it could apply in the developing world. Or looking at the demographic data that our Credit Suisse global fellow showed us and realizing that aging is a fast-rising issue in some of our geographies, not just the OECD. Or calling for full financial inclusion in 2020 and hearing the World Bank take up the rallying cry.

In all these efforts, CFI has tried to speak the truths the sector needs to hear, in a constructive way. I am confident that, under the energetic <a href="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/q-a-with-mayada-el-zoghbi-cfis-new-managing-director">leadership of Mayada El-Zoghbi</a>, it will continue that tradition.

But as I clean out my files and transfer my electronic life, what’s on my mind most are the friends and colleagues I will no longer chat with in the kitchen or find waiting at the end of a long plane ride or the other end of a video call. I would love to give a shout out to each of you, including many CFI-ers and Accionistas from both the present and the past. I have mostly been a cheerleader urging you on while you did the work. I will miss you greatly, though I intend to stay in touch. Accion does have a mistica that ties past and present Accionistas together, and I hope it will keep nurturing that spirit as it pursues the new breakthroughs it is bound to discover.

A very fond goodbye, and <em>viva la mistica</em>!

Goodbye…and Viva Accion!

Ezra Mannix

<h4>CFI: How do you define and measure successful leadership of a social impact organization?</h4>
<p><strong>Mayada</strong>: There are many different ways to define leadership. For me, it’s the ability to bring others along, to inspire trust, and to demonstrate by example. People who work for a social impact organization also want a leader who has passion for its cause, a vision that’s inspirational, and values and behaviors that align with the organization’s social mission. As a leader, you measure your effectiveness by your ability to inspire and mobilize others.</p>
<h4>CFI<em>: </em>What do you consider our sector’s most pressing need?</h4>
<p><strong>Mayada</strong>: As a community we have been overly focused on driving access to basic accounts and improving the business model economics so that providers can make money serving the poor. Of course, technology is what’s enabled all this to happen. But perhaps we’ve lost sight of the purpose and we’ve forgotten that development is also very much about people. Technology is just a tool!</p>
<p>The community has much more work to do if we are to understand or drive improved well-being for poor people. This is why we still have people perplexed that uptake continues to be low and usage of formal financial services continues to lag behind expectations.</p>
<p>Undeniably, providers need an incentive to serve excluded segments; but what’s good for customers is also good for business. Also, we need to move out of our “Washington consensus” mindset that commercial models are the only models that are worth exploring. Fortunately, we’re increasingly seeing some change: renewed focus on public-private partnerships, blended finance solutions, and funding structures that enable experimentation and even some tolerance for failures. There’s no question in my mind that the role of the state in shaping an economy, by defining incentives and disincentives through regulations and policies, is as important as the providers that operate in it.</p>
<h4>CFI: What topics are of greatest interest to you?</h4>
<p><strong>Mayada:</strong> I’m most interested in big, structural-level solutions. I don’t believe we can get the transformational changes we’re looking for by continuing to only focus on micro-level or niche interventions. While at CGAP, I pushed for greater use of using systems thinking for solving remaining barriers in inclusive finance. This approach, by definition, means there’s no one-size-fits-all solution, and that we must understand and diagnose each market, each client segment, and each opportunity within their broader contexts. For the women’s segment, for example, we were beginning to diagnose and eventually move into experiments that could address norms barriers that are often at the heart of the technological and financial divide between men and women. I’d love to see much more work on this issue extended to other important excluded segments, like youth and the rural poor.</p>
<p>For many important groups in society, like women and youth, I see a big opportunity to explore approaches to help them adapt to the digital economy. How can we embed protections in e-commerce and other social platforms that enable poor people to take risks and make investments that enable them to improve their well-being? How do we help these groups adapt their livelihoods and their skill sets in this period of massive environmental, social and technological changes? These issues need to be our focus. We need to shape how the new normal unfolds and not wait until vested interests shape it for us.</p>
<h4>CFI: You worked on updating CGAP’s financial inclusion <a href="https://www.cgap.org/research/publication/emerging-evidence-financial-inclusion">impact narrative</a>. Tell us why you started on this topic, what you learned, and how you might bring your takeaways to CFI.</h4>
<p><strong>Mayada</strong>: Financial services for the poor have been too heavily invested in access without a clear understanding of whether that access is beneficial for poor people. We often get so excited by an idea, yet we discover much later that it may not hold its intended promise for people living in poverty. The work on updating the impact narrative tries to bring evidence to the equation. It’s building a new narrative that’s both realistic and built on what we know can have impact on the lives of the poor.</p>
<p>The rationale for this work was that many stakeholders – including a large number of bilateral and multilateral donors – could no longer justify dedicated programming focused on financial services for the poor because they were unable to demonstrate its effectiveness. The SDGs identify many other pressing goals and we were seeing that donors were shifting their focus more directly to these goals, such as jobs, climate, and gender equality.</p>
<p>Those of us in the inclusive finance community perhaps take it for granted that financial services are a backbone to any economy. So, we naturally supported this shift for our sector from a leading role to a supportive function. But we must do more to clarify and advocate how financial services are still instrumental to get the real economy to function better and more efficiently. We must continue to remind policy makers and other decision makers that development or economic growth that is not inclusive of all segments of society is not a future that anyone of us wants.</p>
<blockquote><p>We must do more to clarify and advocate how financial services are still instrumental to get the real economy to function better and more efficiently.</p></blockquote>
<p>Financial services are a backbone in any economy; they enable companies to invest and in turn create jobs, they facilitate transactions, they make a government more efficient. Responsible, protective and well-designed financial services ensure that the future economy is for everyone and not just the few.</p>


The incoming leader talks about her passion for financial inclusion, the role of digital, and more.

Earlier this month, we announced that <a href="https://content.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/people/mayada-el-zoghbi/">Mayada El-Zoghbi</a> is joining us as the new Managing Director of the Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion (CFI). Mayada is known for her extensive research in – and advocacy for – financial inclusion. As CGAP’s Lead for Strategy, Research &amp; Development, she coordinated CGAP’s strategy development and its research on women’s financial inclusion, financial services in crisis environments, and other emerging topics.

Prior to CGAP, Mayada founded and managed a development consulting firm, led numerous technical assistance, evaluation, and research assignments, served as a research director for a USAID initiative, helped develop several financial institutions, and lectured at Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA).
<h4>CFI: What sparked your passion for financial inclusion, and what continues to propel it as you assume your new role at CFI?</h4>
<strong>Mayada</strong>: After graduating from college, I went to Morocco on a research fellowship with a program called Minnesota Studies in International Development (MSID). I lived both with a family in Rabat and spent a month in a rural community doing survey work on a rural credit research project with a professor from the Agronomy Institute in Rabat. This experience piqued my interest in financial services.

The project in Morocco was clearly not good practice and I was interested to learn more about what works. I decided to go back to graduate school to learn more about it, so I studied at SIPA. It was during a course on microenterprise development, taught by Heather Clark, who was heading UNCDF at the time and who is now a dear friend, that I knew for sure that this was a field that combined all of my interests in business, financial services, and sustainable development. Most importantly, it aligned with my social values.

The inclusive finance field has expanded so much beyond my initial exposure to an agricultural loan program in rural Morocco. The many ways in which this sector continues to evolve and expand is what continues to draw me in. I’m especially excited by our ability to shape responsible growth of the industry, and the role that organizations like CFI have in guiding both public and private sector actors in inclusive finance.
<blockquote>I’m especially excited by our ability to shape responsible growth of the industry.</blockquote>
<h4><strong>CFI</strong>: Why did you choose to join CFI? What about CFI resonated with you?</h4>
<strong>Mayada</strong>: I’ve worked on inclusive finance from many angles: managing institutions in the field, supporting donors on their strategies, conducting research, providing technical assistance to providers and other stakeholders. All of these experiences have been rewarding, but perhaps the role that I’ve enjoyed the most is thought leadership. I’ve been fortunate to do that at CGAP for the past 10 years.

With its convening power, independence, and ability to influence the private sector, investors and the broader inclusive finance community, CFI is unique. Its position as an independent think tank with deep expertise in consumer protection and a strong advocacy platform representing people living in poverty makes it an extremely compelling platform for me personally. At a time when digital platforms represent transformative opportunities to serve the poor and present serious risks for those who are the least able to withstand those risks, there’s no denying that a laser focus on consumer protection has to be front and center. Ensuring that the digital economy evolves in a way that’s both inclusive and protective is critical, and I believe that CFI is well positioned to lead the industry in such a way as to make that a reality.

Q and A with Mayada El-Zoghbi, CFI’s New Managing Director

<p>First, it takes concerted effort to learn enough about the real sector to create innovative ideas. It’s easy to say, “I’m a financial services person. Let the agronomist or the public health specialist worry about the non-financial stuff.” That won’t cut it, however. In fact, the agronomist and the public health specialist often resort to a similar excuse on their side. I have seen too many financial services overtures rebuffed by a real sector person who just wants to see the money flow to the beneficiaries they love – in effect taking a 1970s view of finance. With understanding and partnerships across disciplines, such attitudes will change.</p>


<p>Another reason for the gap is the difficulty for governments and financial institutions to develop effective public-private partnerships. For example, if a bank wants to support pensions for people in the informal sector, it may decide that linking them to the government pension scheme is the best solution, but then may find it difficult to connect with the pension overseers who are bureaucratic and occupied with other challenges – like keeping the pension system solvent. CFI Fellow Larry Reed is <a href="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/searching-for-positive-deviants">exploring relationships</a> between governments and banks to see whether government-to-person payments can provide a path to financial inclusion. Chief stumbling block he’s found? The government procurement process. Similar issues come up in the health arena.</p>


<p>Possibly the biggest reason for the gap is the pressure for business models that feature scale, profitability, even when they are trying to reach lower income segments. It takes experimentation to develop sustainable business models for the previously excluded, and even if they start with a great idea and gifted entrepreneur, the initial models may not fulfill expectations. Room to experiment is needed. Unfortunately, with the now-dominant impact investing paradigm, this room is rarely available. Start-ups face immense pressure to break even and scale quickly. By contrast, when microfinance came along, it was given lots of room to experiment. Subsidies were offered to support the microfinance programs while they still had low scale and profitability expectations. As business models were perfected, subsidies decreased and then disappeared. Today, when a new start-up faces pressure to reach profitability and scale early on, one option is to go forward with whatever minimum viable product is at hand. Another is to pivot to a less developmental market segment. Neither of these is a good way to solve previously unsolved problems.</p>


<p>Many start-up companies are engaging with the real sector in innovative ways. Small business finance is full of innovators right now. The entire <a href="https://www.wri.org/blog/2017/02/pay-you-go-solar-could-electrify-rural-africa">PayGo movement</a> that helps finance solar home systems is another clear example. <a href="https://www.accion.org/how-can-we-bring-insurance-to-those-who-need-it-most">Agricultural insurance</a> is seeing many innovations – like the insurance products offered by Pula, an Accion Venture Lab investee company, which are sold through chips embedded in seed bags. Water.org <a href="https://water.org/about-us/our-work/watercredit/">provides credit</a> for families to hook up to whatever form of water or sanitation is available to them. I would love to see many more such ideas take off.</p>
<p>We have built a financial sector that extends its reach to people of all levels, all over the globe. As we celebrate it, let’s also recognize that this enormous accomplishment lays the foundation for using financial services to solve real sector problems. The types of engagement I am proposing will not be easy, but they are necessary, and, ultimately, that is what financial inclusion is for. As it looks to its next activities, with new leadership, I hope the Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion will take up this challenge in a big way.</p>


As Elisabeth Rhyne prepares to step down as Managing Director of the Center for Financial Inclusion, she challenges the financial inclusion field to get its hands dirty in the real sector.

When I reflect on the future of financial inclusion, I find myself returning over and over to a basic question. What is the purpose of financial inclusion? Why are so many people around the world working towards it, and why do they believe that financial inclusion will contribute to a better world? What purpose have I been pursuing as leader of the Center for Financial Inclusion for the past decade?

This year, in choosing a theme for our 5th annual <a href="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/financial-inclusion-week-2019">Financial Inclusion Week</a>, CFI reflected this question attitude by selecting Financial Inclusion for What? as the theme. But we are not about to let that important question go unanswered. So, after posing it, the CFI staff came up with <a href="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/financial-inclusion-for-what">four answers</a> that will be explored during Financial Inclusion Week: financial inclusion for financial health, financial inclusion for equity, financial inclusion for sustainable development, and financial inclusion for the bottom line.

While each of these ideas is important and worthy of exploration, I’d like to talk here about just one of them: sustainable development. In my view, the time is right for the financial inclusion sector to focus smartly on this set of goals. Even more emphatically, if the financial inclusion sector does not embrace sustainable development, it will soon find that it has worked itself out of a job. That’s because the more basic financial inclusion challenges are well on their way to being solved.

In the last decade an amazing transformation has taken place in the ability of most people to move money around quickly and efficiently. Millions and millions have opened bank or mobile money accounts and gained the ability to receive income straight into an account and then use electronic means to buy things. Yes, there are gender gaps, poor country gaps and rural areas gaps. But these are rapidly closing.

When we can presume that basic financial infrastructure is available to everyone for routine payments and banking, the financial inclusion job will be done. Right? This is an accomplishment that everyone in the financial inclusion sector can be very proud of. Even if we are not quite there in 2019, the finish line is well in view. Put an enormous celebration emoji right here, and look for the next challenge.

With financial access infrastructure as a foundation, we can turn to assisting people to do what they care most about: to apply financial services toward problems in the real sector – the real world, where people earn a living, get educated, build a home, go to the doctor and much more. The Sustainable Development Goals offer a widely-accepted list of real sector challenges that financial services can help address, but I’d like to focus on a slightly narrower list that highlights the activities where financial services are critical: agriculture, small business, health, education, shelter, and environment. The financial inclusion world needs to begin developing solutions that contribute directly to these sectors.

Back in the 1970s, the World Bank, USAID and other global development organizations were highly real-sector oriented when they talked about financial services. They provided enormous lines of credit to agriculture, fisheries, small business, and the like. These lines of credit were channeled through government development banks, who pushed them out at subsidized interest rates. Because they were seen as cheap handouts from the government, they were diverted to elites, with dismal repayment records. The development banks required constant cash infusions, either from abroad or from government budgets. And meanwhile, regular banks could not develop profitable businesses in these sectors, being out-competed by the subsidized loans. Development organizations treated banks much like communist countries treated them: as the distribution arms of central planning. Their solvency wasn’t important – they were just an administrative function. This was a disaster – for the banks, for the low-income people who were intended beneficiaries, for the market economy and for the achievement of development objectives.

Fortunately, a band of rural finance enthusiasts at Ohio State University (and others with similar views) convinced the World Bank and USAID to turn off the money hydrants. How they did that is a saga unto itself. For our story, the important thing is that once the subsidized credit spigot was turned off, it left open space in the financial sector for the growth, first, of microfinance and then of financial inclusion. Starting in the 1980s, these movements focused their attention in the right place: building sound financial institutions that knew how to serve the poor and excluded. That institution- and model-building focus was exactly what was needed at the time, and, with a boost from technology innovation, the sector has been on an unbroken path for three decades that is taking us to full realization of basic financial inclusion goals.

But this focus has also meant a three-decade detour away from deep engagement with real sector challenges. We’re working on payments, not mortgages. We’re working on credit algorithms, not pensions. All are important, but our emphasis has been selective.

Now it’s time to come back to the real sector and see how individuals, with their newly acquired access to financial services, can better use those services to accomplish tasks like building a business, using clean energy, getting an education and staying healthy. We’re in a much better position do tackle these challenges today than in the 1970s, because inclusive financial systems exist. And, hopefully, because we won’t make the old mistakes.
<blockquote>It’s time to come back to the real sector and see how individuals can better use financial services to accomplish tasks like building a business, using clean energy, getting an education and staying healthy.</blockquote>
To take one example, financing for shelter is a potentially pathbreaking field of endeavor for those concerned with financial services for the poor. Everyone needs a safe and comfortable place to live. But with a few exceptions, shelter has not played a role in the financial inclusion conversation for the past decade. To seriously support the acquisition or upgrading of housing, we need innovations. We already know that the thirty-year mortgage is not the answer for most low-income people around the world, but how can we promote the spread of the two-year home improvement loan that has shown promise in many areas? What models combine new financial products with new forms of construction, or land titling?

To develop innovations that work, financial inclusion and housing experts will have to join together in a multi-disciplinary way, and they will have to draw on the advances available through technology. A handful of organizations do combine housing and financial expertise to solve shelter problems, but many more are needed. Financial inclusion experts need to learn about construction, while shelter experts need to be open to financing methods other than scaled back mortgages. Partnerships are needed to solve barriers such as out-of-date building codes and access to water and sanitation. These challenges are often far beyond the usual concerns of banks and financial institutions, and unsolved, they can impede the development of financing solutions by making it hard to lend or by making housing unaffordable.

Similarly, in order to offer financial services that support health care, financial inclusion experts must learn more about how health care works and what it costs, while the health care experts must be willing to explore models other than public sector hospitals and clinics. And I could say the same about agriculture, energy, environment and education.

Why haven’t financial inclusion specialists already moved into sustainable development in a big way? I can think of three very good reasons.

The Next CFI Challenge: Financial Inclusion for Sustainable Development

Jacqueline Foelster

Jacqueline Foelster gives a behind-the-scenes look at a recent CFI report she co-authored, and explains why the human angle is so important.

Over the past year, I’ve been paying close attention to how financial service providers (FSPs) are using technology to optimize their <a href="https://www.findevgateway.org/topics/agent-networks">agent network</a> models. Why? Because technology offers them an opportunity to make agent models more efficient and productive distribution channels. This isn't a surprise.

The unfortunate reality, however, is that many <a href="https://www.findevgateway.org/topics/agent-networks">agent networks</a> still leave much to be desired. Long lines, cash shortages and manual processes are just a few encumbering problems.

In our recent report, <a href="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/leveraging-technologies-to-improve-the-quality-and-maximize-the-productivity-of-agent-models">Leveraging Technologies to Improve the Quality and Maximize the Productivity of Agent Models</a>, Amin Khairy of the <a href="https://www.iif.com/">Institute of International Finance</a> and I explain how institutions can benefit from technology solutions to optimize their agent models. We interviewed 23 representatives of financial institutions, fintechs, and other entities to explore the role of technological innovation in improving the quality and maximizing the productivity of agent networks. This the final report from our six-part series on how FSPs are innovating to reach the base of the pyramid, <a href="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/program_teams/mainstreaming-financial-inclusion">Mainstreaming Financial Inclusion: Best Practices</a>, in partnership with <a href="https://www.metlife.com/corporate-responsibility/metlife-foundation/">MetLife Foundation</a>.
<h2>The Storytelling Approach</h2>
I love conducting qualitative research, but I also got to explore a different approach in this report: storytelling. We decided to employ this approach to illustrate commonly cited challenges and bring to life the three main stakeholder groups in agent transactions: financial institution representatives, agents, and customers. Teresa, a senior manager at the fictitious Sahil Bank; Amar, a Mumbai shopkeeper eager to add Sahil’s agent banking services to his offerings; and Manisha, a seamstress looking to try out money transfers at an agent’s shop, are fictitious characters with vastly different backgrounds but a common interest in making agent networks work. The narratives we use to tell their stories are juxtaposed with real-world scenarios of how technological integration and innovation has served to improve and streamline processes within agent networks.

We chose to channel our creativity in order to highlight the dynamic role that humans have in contributing to the healthy functioning of FSPs in developing markets.

Take, for example, how <a href="https://www.bai.org/banking-strategies/article-detail/bank-branches-coming-to-a-cafe">several commercial banks</a> in developed markets are experimenting with converting branches into consumer hangouts – for example, coffee shops – in response to the tremendous uptake of online banking. This new setup repositions tellers as bank ambassadors. We see them stepping out from behind the counter to directly engage with customers by leading money management sessions and other non-financial activities. In many markets, <a href="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/how-artoo-helped-ujjivan-unlock-the-power-of-data">fintech platforms</a> are obviating the need for traditional loan officers to do time-intensive calculations or assess the risk of prospective borrowers. Today’s loan officers now have increasing time to provide in-depth support to their customers.
<blockquote>Banks as "customer hangouts"  positions tellers as bank ambassadors.</blockquote>
We also consider how the agent model will evolve over the long-term in light of the diminishing role of cash as a payment form and an increasing readiness of institutions to embrace digital transformation.

We hope you enjoy stepping into the shoes of our characters. And we hope, no matter if you’re a financial institution, researcher, or just someone with a general interest in agent networks and financial service operations, that you benefit from this report.

Telling a Human Story of Tech in Agent Networks

Research shows how small business owners hone their financial capability as they build job skills.

As I walked through Alaba International and Idumota markets on a recent trip to Lagos, I was in awe of the bustling scene. Not even the rainy season’s torrential downpours could silence the Afrobeat music thumping in the background as buyers and sellers jockeyed for a better deal. Alaba International and Idumota markets reign supreme in Lagos, offering all the goods one can imagine. Alaba International, on the southeastern edge of the city, bursts at the seams with satellite dishes imported from China, secondhand PlayStations shipped in from the UK, and other electronics. Idumota buzzes on Lagos Island, just south of the city center, and is a shopper’s delight replete with wax print hauled over from Ghana, locally produced Nollywood movies, and so much more.

Amidst the action in the markets, I interviewed 22 small business owners who are clients of <a href="https://www.accionmfb.com/">Accion Microfinance Bank</a> (AMfB) to learn more about their financial health and capability. This research will guide us as we develop a framework to help micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) better understand and achieve financial health. The framework is part of a project we’re undertaking with the support of the <a href="https://www.mastercardcenter.org/">Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth</a> to increase the <a href="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/what-financial-health-means-for-small-business-owners">financial health and resilience of individuals and businesses</a> around the globe.

Through my conversations with business owners, I learned about what owners viewed as determinants of their success. We hypothesized that MSME financial health rests on three pillars — earning a profit, having access to capital to seize opportunities, and being resilient to economic shocks. The interviews suggest that our framework is on the right track. For instance, limited and slow access to working capital was commonly cited as a barrier to taking advantage of fleeting business opportunities. We also learned that resilience is not as much about cash-on-hand as it is about being able to quickly shift to other income-generating activities to fill an immediate need.

But arguably, the most eye-opening thing I learned from these interviews had to do with financial capability and the path to entrepreneurship, specifically how owners were able to get the know-how and capital to start their businesses. I had assumed that a commercial bank or <a href="http://www.iosrjournals.org/iosr-jbm/papers/Vol17-issue6/Version-2/J017626267.pdf"><em>esusu</em></a> — a rotating savings and credit association common in Nigeria — were the first two places that a budding entrepreneur would turn to raise seed funding. However, nearly all the merchants and traders I spoke with started their business with a lump sum they earned after spending several years as apprentices in their trade. This practice is part of the centuries-old Igbo apprenticeship model, <a href="https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/c77a/7e79ec3fb7ce5c9eccdc72d181205251dfb2.pdf"><em>Imu-Ahia</em></a>.

The roots of Imu-Ahia date back to the European colonial era when the Igbo ethnic group native to southeastern Nigeria started to gain a reputation as highly-skilled traders and merchants. Today, the apprenticeship model has been widely adopted across the country. Most apprentices-to-be meet their “boss” — someone who is already well-established in a trade — through a family member or close contact. Reasons abound for why one might become an apprentice. Several entrepreneurs I spoke with decided at a young age that they wanted to be masters of a trade, so becoming an apprentice was always part of their plan. Others became an apprentice as a last resort, often after financial constraints forced them to put off academic or other pursuits.

During their tenure, which can range anywhere between three and seven years, apprentices observe and take notes on the tricks of the trade. They are assigned a variety of responsibilities, and eventually, they’re charged with promoting sales and store management. Although most apprentices aren’t paid, they are afforded accommodation, transportation costs, food, and clothing. Once the agreement — which can be either informal or formal — has been fulfilled, the newly anointed entrepreneurs are provided a lump sum to help them start their shop. One interviewee — a vendor of computer and phone accessories — was compensated with N800,000, the equivalent of approximately US$2,200, after spending five years as an apprentice. This is a decent payout considering he currently spends N350,000 (US $970) a year to rent his shop.

So what exactly does <em>Imu-Ahia</em> tell us about how these entrepreneurs perceive the determinants of their success? Many interviewees captured it perfectly when they shared advice for aspiring entrepreneurs: one must meticulously study and practice the skills needed to run a business before diving into it.

This advice resonates with our team at CFI because it positions financial capability — the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviors necessary to make sound financial decisions — as <a href="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/four-reasons-focusing-on-financial-capability-is-good-business">an essential contributor to business success</a>. The apprenticeship model serves as a learning and testing ground for those who are set on eventually running their own shop, much in the <a href="https://guardian.ng/technology/apprenticeship-and-mentorship-the-key-to-technology-talent-development/">same way</a> that the modern-day business incubator serves as a testing ground for startups. By the time individuals “graduate” from the apprenticeship model, they will have developed the knowledge and skills to manage business revenues and expenses. They also have plans to take advantage of investment opportunities and experience observing how businesses respond to the ups and downs of the market.

I only interviewed former apprentices who found success in the business world, so there’s still more to learn. We need to do more to understand the relationship between financial capability and business outcomes, especially business failures. Nevertheless, these qualitative findings echo the findings of other research. The <a href="https://www.nber.org/chapters/c8222.pdf">National Bureau of Economic Research</a> conducted a fascinating study that showed the differences in the psychological profile of wage workers, own-account workers, and small and medium enterprise (SME) owners. It found that “ability, motivation, and a competitive attitude are very important in differentiating SME and microenterprise owners.” The World Bank launched a project to measure <a href="http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/884291527663849364/pdf/126687-18-6-2018-9-32-12-InvestigatingSMEFinancialCapabilitiesFINALWEB.pdf">financial capability of SMEs</a>. Their analysis showed a positive correlation between financial capability and a firm’s size and level of sales.

The striking thing about what we learned in Lagos is not so much that financial capability contributes to business success, it is how, in the Nigerian system such capability is learned: over a period of years, through experience, and under the watchful eye of a knowledgeable mentor.

Keep reading the <a href="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/blog">CFI Blog</a>, where we’ll share future findings as we conduct surveys around the world on MSME financial health!

What an Apprenticeship System May Reveal About the Financial Health of Small Business Owners in Nigeria

Latest Blog Posts

Tess Johnson

Eric Noggle

Senior research director Eric Noggle participates in a panel discussion at this summit dedicated to "Rising to the Good ID Challenge."

Event

<a href="/bio/eric-noggle">Eric Noggle</a> and <a href="/bio/tess-johnson">Tess Johnson</a> are participating in <a href="https://id2020.org/summit/2019-id2020-summit">ID2020 Summit 2019</a> along with stakeholders from across the digital ID ecosystem, including government leaders, technologists, civil society advocates and development organizations. Hosted by the ID2020 Alliance, this year's summit offers an opportunity to take stock of progress, evaluate our individual and collective roles in advancing good digital ID, and ensure alignment on key priorities.

Eric Noggle joins a panel entitled <em>Cities Driving Innovation in Good ID</em> alongside speakers from the Open Society Foundations and the cities of New York, NY and Austin, TX.

The ID2020 Alliance was launched in 2017 to accelerate access to user-centric, privacy-protecting and portable digital ID -- and to do so through sustained, transparent public-private partnership. This year's summit will include intimate, candid discussions on:
<ul>
 	<li>Taking stock of progress and failings towards user-centric, privacy- protecting and portable digital ID</li>
 	<li>The heightened urgency of our work, particularly when increased interest in closing the ID gap - through any means - may be outpacing the #GoodID movement</li>
 	<li>The roles for regulators, market-based approaches, and funders in protecting privacy and spurring the adoption of user-centric, privacy- protecting and portable digital ID. The route from #GoodID to widespread adoption of digital ID solutions that meet - or exceed - our standards for “good”?</li>
 	<li>Trends towards decentralization in national ID programs and cities as catalysts for “good” digital ID</li>
</ul>

ID2020 Summit 2019

Lizzy Bolze

ABF Fellows will convene in South Africa to close out the ninth cohort. 

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<div class="sc-bwzfXH ejJzIl"><article class="jsx-1739195141 text-block__article">Africa Board Fellowship (ABF) program participants convene in Cape Town, South Africa, to close out the program’s 9th cohort.

The ABF seminars are an interactive combination of guided discussion and peer-to-peer exchange on governance best practices and risk-management strategies, with an emphasis on fellows sharing knowledge and experience.

World-class experts and leaders in microfinance and financial inclusion will facilitate and engage participants in active dialogues. The aim of the Africa Board Fellowship program is to connect board members and CEOs through peer learning and exchange to strengthen the governance of financial institutions serving low-income clients in sub-Saharan Africa.

Research has shown that the single biggest success factor in MFIs across the world is good governance. Program activities, structure, and content have been carefully designed to create an open atmosphere that allows for frank discussion among peers. Fellows identify their objectives for the program and then work with a program advisor on achieving those goals. Additionally, Fellows have access throughout the program to a participant-led virtual collaboration space with tools, resources, content, and access to subject-matter experts. At the conclusion of the program, Fellows stay connected as alumni, providing a network of leaders confronting similar challenges.

<a href="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/about/what-we-do/africa-board-fellowship-program/">Learn more</a> about the program.

</article></div>
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Africa Board Fellowship Closing Seminar – Cohort 9

Financial Inclusion: For What?

About FIW

<p>Now in its 5th year, Financial Inclusion Week is an opportunity to strengthen the diverse community of players involved in building a more inclusive financial ecosystem.</p>
<p>The objectives of Financial Inclusion Week are:</p>
<ul>
<li>To bring the entire financial inclusion community together to explore issues of financial inclusion beyond access</li>
<li>To create leadership opportunities among diverse stakeholders</li>
<li>To create dialogue and community</li>
<li>To foster partnership and coordination within the financial industry</li>
</ul>


Get Involved

<h2>Why should we participate?</h2>
<p>Achieving financial inclusion is within our reach, but only if we work together to address the biggest gaps. When people come together to consider this question, they emerge with new insights, energy and focus. By serving as a FIW partner, you are playing a vital role as a leader in financial inclusion and helping to build a strong community, while focusing on the work of your organization.</p>
<h2>How do we participate?</h2>
<p>Financial Inclusion Week is easy to get involved with. Typically, organizations hold virtual or in-person events, write blogs or publish reports, engage their social media community—or all of the above. We also provide resources to help you <a href="http://financialinclusionweek.org/partner-toolkit">plan your participation in FIW</a>.</p>
<p>CFI will be coordinating and hosting activities during FIW and we invite the entire community to participate. We&#8217;ll publish and help to promote partners&#8217; activities as well. Keep an eye on the schedule on at <a href="http://financialinclusionweek.org/">financialinclusionweek.org</a> and<a href="http://eepurl.com/dDxzwE" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> sign up</a> to receive updates from the FIW team.</p>


From the Blog

Partners

CGAP's FinDev Gateway is a media partner for Financial Inclusion Week 2019.

This year, we are taking a step back as a community to revisit the fundamental purpose of our work, and ask ourselves the question: What is financial inclusion for?

This year, we are taking a step back as a community to revisit the fundamental purpose of our work, and ask ourselves what is financial inclusion for?

<h1>Financial Inclusion: For What?</h1>
This year, we are taking a step back as a community to revisit the fundamental purpose of our work.

As some organizations pursue financial inclusion as their ultimate goal, others are driving toward financial health or the <a href="https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/?menu=1300">UN Sustainable Development Goals</a>. Meanwhile, financial institutions and fintechs are aiming to profitably serve low-income markets.

In the face of these trends, we can’t help but ask: <strong>Financial Inclusion: For What</strong><b>?
</b>
<h3>Financial Inclusion: For What? is a call to action for our community <b>to reexamine our goals and renew efforts to achieve them</b>. During Financial Inclusion Week this year, October 21-25, 2019, we invite you to convene around this question to r<b>eexamine, redefine, and align our goals</b>.</h3>
<h2>Guiding Questions</h2>
<ul>
 	<li>What is the ultimate goal we are trying to achieve—financial health, sustainable development, equity, revenue generation? Or something else?</li>
 	<li>To what extent are our goals complementary or contradictory?</li>
 	<li>How do our efforts across the industry complement or counteract each other?</li>
 	<li>Do these goals align with what we aim to achieve as an industry?</li>
 	<li>How should we measure our success?</li>
</ul>

Financial Inclusion Week 2019

Boubacar Diallo

Join Smart Campaign's Boubacar Diallo for a talk about fueling fintechs with an enabling regulatory and investment environment during SAM 2019. 

Smart Campaign Senior Africa Advisor Boubacar Diallo will participate on a panel about fueling fintechs with enabling regulations and investment flows.

Fintech investment and growth are occurring in relatively limited areas and for a handful of high-profile companies. Enabling regulatory environments and well-informed investment flows are prerequisites to realizing the potential of fintech to achieve scale and impact. On October 23<sup>rd</sup>, as part of SAM 2019, <a href="/bio/boubacar-diallo">Boubacar Diallo</a>, Senior Africa Advisor, Smart Campaign, will present on a panel entitled <em>Fueling Fintech: Regulations and Investment for Scale and Impact</em>.

Key Questions
<ul>
 	<li>What examples do we have of successful legislation and investment environments to promote fintech development, and how can other markets replicate these successes to pave the way to more diverse and durable growth of digital financial services?</li>
 	<li>How can investors better evaluate investments with regard to the SDGs?</li>
</ul>
<a href="https://www.ada-microfinance.org/en/presentation-sam-2019">African Microfinance Week</a>/Semaine Africaine de la Microfinance (SAM 2019) is a biennial conference dedicated to the development of financial inclusion in Africa. The <a href="/about/what-we-do/the-smart-campaign/">Smart Campaign</a> will participate in this year’s conference, taking place October 21-25, 2019 in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, on the theme “Pathways Toward Impact: African Inclusive Finance for the Sustainable Development Goals.”

More details to come. Hope you can join us.

African Microfinance Week (SAM 2019)

We're hosting a select group of social enterprise leaders at the Board Leadership for Impact Program inaugural workshop.

Board effectiveness executive education for social enterprise leaders

We are convening a select group of social enterprise leaders at the <a href="/about/what-we-do/board-leadership-for-impact-program">Board Leadership for Impact Program</a> (BLI) inaugural workshop taking place October 27-29, 2019, at the Fairview Hotel in Nairobi, Kenya.

BLI is dedicated to empowering corporate leaders in the social enterprise sector to achieve business growth and social impact. By focusing exclusively on executive leadership and reframing board effectiveness as a strategic imperative, BLI strengthens leadership and management to ensure these companies sustain business growth and drive social impact.

BLI is offered as a two-day interactive workshop where participants gather with faculty and facilitators for role play, simulations, discussions, and more. Workshops are augmented with a robust virtual portal where participants can access resources and videos, participate in discussions, and stay connected with hundreds of leaders in our global network. At this inaugural workshop, attendees will have the opportunity to engage with peers on issues critical to social enterprise growth and impact, including digital strategy and culture, data, partnerships and financial inclusion in the digital age.

Board Leadership for Impact Program Launch Workshop

Upcoming Events

Hema Bansal

Consumers are being charged sky-high interest rates on easy credit, leading to desperation—or worse—according to the piece. 

News

Bansal, the <a href="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/about/what-we-do/the-smart-campaign">Smart Campaign</a>'s Senior Director in South and Southeast Asia, notes that the problem over-indebtedness is more severe in the island country than elsewhere.

She also points out that the government's decision to write off business loans of up to 100,000 rupees falls short.

"One-off measures will not do, says Ms Bansal: Sri Lanka needs properly enforced rules that prevent over-indebtedness and ensure fair treatment of borrowers."

<strong>Read the <a href="https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2019/08/15/microfinance-is-driving-many-sri-lankan-borrowers-to-despair">full article</a> (soft paywall).</strong>

In The Economist: Hema Bansal on Over-Indebtedness in Sri Lanka

Learn More

Isabelle Barrès

The CFI Vice President notes that Facebook's Libra presents an opportunity to answer key questions about protecting the underserved. 

Barres's questions that Libra's developers should consider when innovating for the new cryptocurrency are:
<ul>
 	<li>What would data privacy agreements look like if we wanted them to be understandable, fair and with an option to opt out?</li>
 	<li>How would algorithms that did not discriminate be set up?</li>
 	<li>How might fully transparent, low-cost and high-quality products and services that truly solve problems be brought to bear?</li>
</ul>
Read the <a href="https://www.euromoney.com/article/b1g0hvpnhqmyg0/cryptocurrency-facebook39s-libra-is-this-how-we-get-to-responsible-fintech">full article in Euromoney</a>.

In Euromoney: Smart Campaign's Isabelle Barres Poses Questions About Libra

Alexandra Rizzi

Rwandans trust mobile money services but are concerned about fraud, survey finds. 

The <a href="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/about/what-we-do/the-smart-campaign/">Smart Campaign</a>'s senior director discussed the motivation behind the survey and forthcoming report with <a href="https://www.newtimes.co.rw/"><em>The New Times</em></a>, a leading Rwandan news provider.

“We want all stakeholders to understand the actual experiences and concerns of the clients they are serving, protecting or advocating for, because there hasn't been a comprehensive survey underpinning the conduct of this digital financial service before,” <a href="https://content.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/people/alexandra-rizzi/">Rizzi</a> said.

Fraud was a "major problem" for about 40 percent of respondents (with 10 percent falling victim themselves), and while nearly 90 percent trust mobile money services, that trust extends to specific services, namely person-to-person (P2P) transfers. There are approximately 11 million mobile money users in Rwanda.

The report will be available for download on this site in the coming weeks. The results were discussed at a workshop of regulators in the Rwandan capital Kigali in March and will be discussed at the <a href="https://sptf.info/annual-meetings/2019-summit-inclusive-digital-future">Inclusive Digital Future Summit</a> in Nairobi in June 2019.

Read the<a href="https://www.newtimes.co.rw/business/mobile-money-services-enjoy-public-confidence-fraud-remains-threat-survey-reveals"> full article</a> and learn more about the <a href="http://smartcampaign.org/tools-a-resources/1075">Client Voices Project</a>.

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

In The New Times: Smart Campaign's Alex Rizzi Interviewed About Client Voices Project Survey in Rwanda

Tune In 

Rhyne discusses tech and touch, national identities and more in the latest episode of Institute of International Finance's podcast. 

This <a href="https://soundcloud.com/user-273615244/frt-episode-28-digital-customer-journey">episode</a> of the "FRT" podcast focuses on how digital customer journeys are enabling financial institutions to reach underserved segments in a sustainable manner. IIF’s Conan French host Rhyne and Amin Khairy to discuss the upcoming CFI-IIF paper “Charting the Customer Journey in the Digital Age.”

Rhyne discusses the persistent challenges for digital inclusion and the importance of having a “tech-touch” balance at certain stages of the customer journey.

They also discuss the potential gain in operational efficiencies for financial institutions and the positive impact digitization has on unbanked customers and provide real-life examples of digital customer journeys in various stages: pre-onboarding, onboarding and continued use.

"We're finding that the countries that are making it easy to onboard are those with a good national ID program," Rhyne said. "Having a very clear and simple to use national ID that's easily connected electronically is probably the most important thing."

Rhyne also notes that understanding the unique financial lives of lower income segments is crucial to digitization and different from transitioning banked populations from analog to digital.

Browse more <a href="https://www.iif.com/Innovation/FRT-Podcast">FRT podcast episodes</a>.

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IIF Podcast Features Elisabeth Rhyne Discussing the Digital Customer Journey

The CFI Managing Director discusses differences between banking in developed and developing countries.

In the March 14 <a href="https://www.raconteur.net/finance/financial-inclusion-banked">piece</a>, Rhyne’s insights are part of a broad survey of the global financial inclusion landscape -- from barriers to financial inclusion in the developing world, to its benefits and the tools that are helping to integrate marginalized populations into the “financial mainstream.”
<p style="text-align: left;">“In the developing world there is an issue of absolute low incomes,” Rhyne said in the feature, which appeared in the <a href="https://www.raconteur.net/future-money-2019"><em>Future of Money</em></a>, a 20-page insert published in <a href="http://www.thetimes.co.uk">The Times (UK)</a> in association with <a href="https://europe.money2020.com/">Money 20/20</a>. “In regards to how much in deposits people would be providing, how large a credit they might want, these are below the threshold of feasibility for banks using traditional branch-based, teller-based models. So you couldn’t put a branch out in a rural area and expect it to be profitable.”</p>
Rhyne uses the example of hyperinflation in Latin America to illustrate why potential customers don't have bank accounts, and concludes the article by noting that digital payments “are going to be essential” over the next decade.

<a href="https://www.raconteur.net/">Raconteur</a> is a publisher of “special-interest content and research” whose special reports are inserted into the printed version of The Times (UK). Read the full article <a href="https://www.raconteur.net/finance/financial-inclusion-banked">here</a>.

Raconteur Features Elisabeth Rhyne in “Challenges in Banking the Unbanked”

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