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Financial Inclusion and Stability: A Balancing Act

Understanding the relationship between financial inclusion and stability is imperative for policymakers to advance both these goals and respond to shocks that threaten financial stability in ways that protect inclusion.

What Does Financial Inclusion Mean for Young Women’s Well-being?

Well-implemented financial inclusion (FI) initiatives for various sub-segments of young women can produce positive financial and non-financial outcomes. Current research shows plural programs with FI components can benefit marginalized young women.

The Road Ahead for Platform Gig Workers’ Financial Inclusion

Gig platforms offer financial inclusion potential for their workers, but roadblocks remain. Learn how funders and the financial inclusion community can better support innovation and impact on gig platforms.

Findex 2021 Insights: Boosting Financial inclusion in Africa

Global Findex 2021 shows Sub-Saharan Africa has made progress in financial account ownership and usage over the past decade but lags behind in closing the financial inclusion gender gap and indicators around the value of financial services.

How Can We Build on COVID-19 Progress in Women’s Financial Inclusion

COVID-19 has led millions of women to open accounts, spurred investments in digital infrastructure, and built momentum around women’s financial inclusion. By taking the right steps, we can push women’s financial inclusion further than ever before.

The Essential Role of Finance in Education, Housing and Health Care

CGAP’s research suggests that financial services are important tools for advancing equitable access to quality essential services like education, housing and health care.

Inclusive Finance Can Help the World Achieve COP26 Goals – Here’s How

Amid the talk of national climate plans, net zero timelines, and the Paris rulebook, we should not forget about the need for practical tools — including financial services — that enable low-income populations to participate in the climate transition.

How a New Set of Metrics Is Poised to Transform PAYGo Solar

The PAYGo PERFORM Key Performance Indicators offer a pathway to growth and maturity for the off-grid solar industry.

Flipping the Switch: How Locking Assets Unlocks Credit for the Poor

A new study out of Uganda offers strong evidence that lock-out technology can enable providers to sustainably lend to low-income customers, who may need credit for school fees and other critical expenses.

In Uganda, Solar Home Systems Help Students Stay in School

A pay-as-you-go (PAYGo) solar provider in Uganda is proving that an often-overlooked benefit of PAYGo – financial inclusion – can also affect education outcomes by keeping kids in the classroom.

Finding Opportunity in “Interesting Times”

What did 2020 teach us about financial inclusion? Greta Bull reflects on what was, for most people, an especially difficult year and offers her perspective on the year ahead.

PAYGo Transformed Off-Grid Solar: Is Consumer Financing Next?

By partnering with pay-as-you-go (PAYGo) solar companies, electric utilities in Africa could expand low-income households' access to responsible consumer finance for refrigerators and other electric appliances.

Keeping Our Eyes on the Prize in 2020

What’s the path forward for financial inclusion in the decade ahead? Greta Bull shares the three guiding stars that CGAP is using to steer innovations toward the achievement of global development goals.

Former PAYGo CFO: Smart Subsidies Can Scale Energy Financing

Well-designed subsidies could create a stronger foundation for the solar home system industry and enable it to reach more low-income customers, according to entrepreneur and former PAYGo executive Joshua Romisher.

Beyond Regulations: What’s Driving Mobile Money in Côte d’Ivoire?

Regulations helped spur the recent growth of mobile money in Côte d'Ivoire, but there's more to the story.

Regulations Drive Success of Digital Finance in Côte d’Ivoire

The year 2015 marked a turning point for financial inclusion in Côte d'Ivoire, as nonbanks were allowed to issue e-money. Since then, mobile money has driven big increases in account ownership.

Stepping Back: Product, Collections and Credit Risk in PAYGo Solar

While PAYGo solar companies can lower delinquency rates by improving their credit risk management practices, improving repayment starts with even more fundamental factors: having an affordable, quality product and effective collections.

PAYGo Solar Opens Pathways to Microfinance in Rural Senegal

A microfinance institution and pay-as-you-go solar company have teamed up to expand rural, low-income customers' access to microfinance based on their solar loan repayment histories.

2 Financial Services That Increase Smallholders’ Food Security

Evidence from around the world shows that savings and insurance help smallholder farmers to reduce hunger and manage production risks.

3 Ways Financial Inclusion Improves Women’s Food Security

There is evidence that financial inclusion improves food security for women in at least three ways.