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African Digital Credit Goes West

Digital credit is emerging in West Africa. Despite early reports of low default rates, consumer protection policies will be key to avoiding problems witnessed in East Africa.

Where Youth Join Trust Groups, Not Insurgency Groups

By providing a combination of financial and nonfinancial services to over 16,000 smallholders, a social enterprise in northern Nigeria is harnessing the power of agriculture to create jobs for youth and improve livelihoods.

Client Registration: The Blind Spot in Agricultural Insurance

This agricultural insurance provider tripled its product registration rates in rural Nigeria by improving its registration process.

Mapping Africa’s Latest Innovations in Digital Finance

CGAP received nearly 200 proposals from digital financial services providers across Africa interested in piloting new products. A look at those proposals — from 30 countries — shows that innovations are spreading beyond hot spots like Kenya.

Paying for School: 6 Insights for Better Financial Services

The inability to pay fees and other education expenses keeps many children out of school. What is the extent of these challenges, who is affected and what kinds of financial services could help?

Enhancing Financial Inclusion for Women in Nigeria

Even though Nigeria has a higher level of financial inclusion than Sub-Saharan Africa across three of five indicators, the gender gap in Nigeria is higher. What can be done to lower the barriers to female financial inclusion?

Cashless Nigeria: Facilitating the Transition to Digital Payments

The Better than Cash Alliance released two studies covering Nigeria's journey from cash to digital payments. Digital payments are passing a tipping point in Nigeria's corporate sector, with 61% of salaries from large companies paid electronically.

Bringing Mobile Wallets to Nigerian Farmers

Cellulant developed a mobile wallet network in Nigeria that extends to some eight million farmers. With more than 40 million transactions in just two years, smallholder farmers in Nigeria are poised to adopt digital financial services more broadly.

Savers Deserve More Attention and Protection

Access to finance in the West African Economic Monetary Union and Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa grew significantly from 2001 to 2011. However, more attention must be paid to savings and savers.

Banking on Including Women in Nigeria

In Nigeria, Diamond Bank is using customer insights to design and market a new savings product for women.

Mobile Money: Even Data Analytics Has Limitations

While quantitative data analysis is a useful first step in understanding active mobile customers, it is even more insightful when providers actually go and talk with their customers directly.

From Diagnostic to Action: Developing Microinsurance in Nigeria

A Microinsurance Country Diagnostic in Nigeria revealed that while there is a huge opportunity for the development of a microinsurance market, low-income people in the country have limited knowledge of insurance and the value it can deliver.

Nigeria Targets Real Financial Inclusion

In 2012, the Nigerian government set formal targets for financial inclusion and aims to bring down financial exclusion to 20% by 2020.

How to Save Lives and Lower Fuel Consumption: Clean Cookstoves

Exposure to smoke from traditional cookstoves and open fires – the primary means of cooking and heating for nearly 3 billion people in the developing world – causes 2 million premature deaths annually, with women and children the most affected.

Bank-led or Mobile-led Financial Inclusion?

Payments are an optimal gateway product for financially underserved households. Unlike credit, insurance, and savings, payments do not require trust by either party.

From Data to Action: Using Finscope in Nigeria

Since 2002, FinMark Trust has promoted FinScope, a research tool to address the need for credible information that could facilitate evidence-based financial sector development.

So How Exactly Do We Regulate Microfinance?

When it comes to prudential regulation – or safeguarding deposits – the stakes are particularly high. In microfinance, most MFIs aren’t big enough to threaten the health of the financial systems they’re part of if they run into trouble.