Towards ‘Right-Fit’ IMM for Financial Inclusion Investing: What’s Missing and What’s Next?

Webinar

06 February 2025 10:00 am - 11:00 am EST
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Despite increasing interest and innovation in measuring and managing development and intermediate outcomes of financial inclusion investments, current impact measurement and management (IMM) practices often fall short. Many impact investors, financial service providers (FSPs), and sector support organizations across the capital value chain still rely on output-based measures and ad-hoc surveys. This limited focus on right-fit outcomes performance measurement hinders the ability of investors and FSPs to adapt and improve their investments and financial services. As a result, these gaps expose stakeholders to reputational, financial, and impact risks while increasing the risk of "impact washing," where overstated claims undermine trust and credibility. 

Outcomes-focused IMM provides a clear path forward. By integrating outcomes measurement and management into strategy, decision-making, and every stage of the investment and product lifecycle, this approach enables continuous improvement, effective impact risk management and credible outcomes performance reporting. It ensures that financial inclusion investments reflect the full spectrum of customer experiences, both positive and negative, enabling informed responses and fostering greater accountability across the capital value chain. 

Outcomes-focused IMM is critical to enhance the practical benefits and positive outcomes enabled by financial inclusion investing. To explore how the industry can move forward, join CGAP, IFC, Global Partnerships, and Tyme for a discussion on what’s missing and what’s next for outcomes-focused IMM in financial inclusion investing. This webinar explored: 

  • Key gaps holding back progress on outcomes-focused IMM. 
  • Key enablers needed to advance outcomes-focused IMM practices. 
  • Concrete actions and commitments required to move the industry forward. 
  • A future vision for success in outcomes-focused IMM

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Moderator

Senior Financial Sector Specialist

Charley works as a trusted freelance IMM partner to Asset Owners, Fund Managers, and Enterprises, bringing specialist expertise from her 20-year career in IMM system verification, international development, and monitoring and evaluation for private sector development to support clients design, iterate and report on results from IMM systems in alignment with the evolving landscape of global standards and frameworks. 

Speakers

Senior Financial Sector Specialist

Estelle Lahaye leads CGAP’s work to contribute to enhancing practices of impact investors with measuring and managing impact for inclusive finance. She has more than 15 years’ experience in development finance and financial inclusion having previously led CGAP’s work with donors and investors to co-create knowledge, provide guidance, and advocate for effective financial inclusion, and led CGAP’s experimentation and research activities on digital financial services in the West African Economic and Monetary Union.

Before joining CGAP, Estelle worked as a private banker in Luxembourg at Banco Itaú Europa, the international private banking division of Banco Itaú, Brazil.

Estelle has a Master’s degree in Business from San Francisco State University and an undergraduate degree in banking, finance, and insurance from the University of Nancy 2 in France. She is based in Paris and fluent in French and Portuguese.

Global Manager for Financial Inclusion, IFC

Adel joined IFC in 1999, in Central Capital Markets. While in DC, he worked on investment projects in Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, Asia, and the Pacific, primarily in the Financial Markets sector. In 2005, Adel moved to Bogota, Colombia as a Hub Leader and took responsibility for managing the Financial Markets business for IFC in the Andes and the Caribbean. There, he led the business development, processing, portfolio management and team building which allowed for timely response and effective client management. In 2009, Adel moved to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam to help expand the IFC's footprint in the Mekong, where he achieved outstanding results. In 2012, Adel assumed the role of Regional Representative for Thailand and Myanmar and thereafter in 2014 was appointed as IFC's Manager for FIG for the East Asia and Pacific region. In 2017, Adel returned to DC and led the SME finance team where he created several global platforms using blended finance support along with other donor funds. Adel was appointed Global Upstream Manager for FIG in July 2019 and within 3 years in the role enabled investments of over USD1.45bn for IFC’s own account. In December 2022, Adel was appointed as Global Sector Manager for Financial Inclusion within the Financial Markets Department. His responsibilities include overseeing IFC’s activities associated with credit infrastructure, MSME finance, digital financial services, embedded finance platforms and upstream and innovation. 

Chief Capital and Impact Officer, Global Partnerships

Tara leads Global Partnerships’ Capital and Impact Team. In this capacity she oversees GP’s work in investment research, impact management, investor communication and investor relations. Tara joined GP in 2009 and during her tenure at the organization she has worked across the Social Investment, Research and Impact, and Social Venture Fund teams. Her approach to impact investing is informed by academic, professional, and entrepreneurial experience addressing the issues of poverty, gender, and conflict. As a Fulbright Scholar, Tara researched the gender-differentiated effects of the armed conflict in Colombia and was part of a start-up tackling the socio-economic reintegration of displaced families.  

Chief Growth Officer, Tyme

Tyme is the technology and solutions firm powering Tyme Bank, the first digital bank in South Africa with now 4.6 million customers, and GOtyme, our newly licensed bank in the Philippines. Rachel Freeman is an experienced and internationally recognized financial expert, particularly in the areas of financial inclusion and innovative financial technologies.   Before joining Tyme, Ms. Freeman served as the IFC Financial Institutions Advisory Manager for Asia since 2014. In her role, she led IFC’s advisory program for existing and potential investee clients for value enhancement and development impact, to achieve IFC's goals in financial inclusion and climate change mitigation. Rachel led client solutions development and execution in SME finance, bank-fintech collaboration including the creation of the APIX Platform, MFI transformation, Banking on Women, agrifinance and climate change finance for strategic IFC clients. Since 2001 she had several senior positions at IFC in Central Asia, Africa and Asia.  Prior to joining IFC, Rachel was involved in several entrepreneurial ventures in the US and Russia.