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Making financial services meet the needs of the world’s most vulnerable
People living in poverty constantly juggle an evolving set of risks and crises in their daily lives. Climate change, the pandemic, and the ongoing food crisis, among others, have increased these risks substantially, contributing to a rise in global poverty and inequality. Meanwhile, a third of the world’s adult population lacks the financial services they could use to significantly improve their lives. CGAP is working to change this, and we believe that positive trends in inclusive finance offer hope for a green, resilient, and inclusive future.
Open finance frameworks have the potential to increase innovation, boost competition, empower customers, and deepen financial inclusion. However, they also introduce new risks that necessitate careful design and robust safeguards. As more countries explore or implement these frameworks, CGAP, BIS, IMF, UNSGSA, and the World Bank offer key considerations for designing effective and inclusive open finance frameworks.
Inclusive carbon markets can play a role in financing a just, green transition. CGAP highlights the challenges to and opportunities for developing inclusive carbon markets, emphasizing the potential for financial services to both overcome barriers to inclusion and drive impact at scale.
Food security is a complex and multidimensional issue. CGAP's new framework aims to improve food security through inclusive finance by targeting key agricultural chains, AgTech, and tailored services for low-income communities.
Afghanistan’s hawala system plays a critical and evolving role in the country’s financial ecosystem. Since August 2021 its role has only expanded as trust in the banking system faltered. Although hawala faces local competition and international skepticism due to transparency concerns, it remains a vital financial tool. The paper suggests that stakeholders should deepen engagement with hawala networks, support their regulation and formalization, and explore innovative partnerships to advance financial inclusion.
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An inclusive financial system empowers vulnerable people to pursue their own climate resilience strategies, making it an absolute necessity for a just transition.
Emerging evidence shows that data trails generated by poor people can be harnessed for developing inclusive financial services. Learn what CGAP is doing to unlock how data can be leveraged to catalyze financial services that reach poor and underserved people at scale and in a responsible manner.
Rural women face disproportionate threats from climate stresses and shocks compared to men.
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