Karina Broens Nielsen

Senior Financial Sector Specialist

Karina Broens Nielsen is a senior financial sector specialist and leads CGAP’s work on evidence and measurement of financial inclusion impact. She also facilitates CGAP’s strategy development process and leads CGAP’s corporate results measurement and evaluation. 

Karina has extended experience working for various international development institutions on project management, measurement, learning and evaluation related to digital financial services, rural finance, small and medium-sized enterprise finance, agriculture and local governance. Before joining CGAP, she worked for the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the European Commission’s delegation to the United Nations, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation where she designed, managed, and evaluated multimillion dollar international programs with private sector actors and government partners in Eastern Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa, and South Asia. In these positions, Ms. Nielsen developed guidance and frameworks to assess results for various types of investments.

She is based in Paris, has a Master’s degree in Public Administration (Candidata Scientiarium Administrationis) and a Bachelor’s degree in Public Administration and Social Science from Aalborg University, Denmark. She also studied International Relations and Development at London Guildhall University.

By Karina Broens Nielsen

Blog

The Evidence of Credit and Insurance’s Role in Tackling Climate Change

Drawing on evidence to examine how financial services can advance climate action and other development outcomes, CGAP's Impact Pathfinder is a gateway to understanding what the existing evidence tells us, and knowledge gaps that need to be filled.
Blog

Outcome Indicators in Financial Inclusion - Are They Up to the Challenge?

Indicators help track progress across populations and evaluate financial service impacts. To justify their high cost, it's crucial to define their capabilities and limitations in addressing geographic and demographic variations.
Blog

Three Principles to Guide Financial Health Measurement

Global financial health measurement varies, reflecting the need for widely applicable guidelines to make sure financial health measurement provides relevant insights. We outline three principles to help refine approaches and improve insights.
Blog

Financial Well-being – A Concept That Has Come of Age

The GPFI’s 2024 G20 Policy Note on Financial Well-Being offers a clear framework for linking financial inclusion to meaningful outcomes. It highlights how financial policies, consumer protection, and digital innovation can drive progress, shaping lives far beyond access to services.
Blog

Financial Inclusion 2.0: Embracing a New Outcome Agenda

Financial inclusion has a key role to play as an enabler for development outcomes and as a foundational element to improve livelihoods and build resilience in an ever more vulnerable and turbulent world.