Research & Analysis

Inclusive Pensions for an Aging World: Evidence and Strategies for Engaging Informal Workers

This Working Paper reviews how different countries have designed pension schemes for informal workers. It focuses on contributory schemes for the “missing middle”: informal workers with sufficiently stable incomes to save for old age but who lack access to suitable pension options.

Inclusive Business in Action: Case Studies from ABERA Cohort 1 Financial and Agricultural Service Providers

This reading deck shares initial analyses conducted with five companies in the first cohort of ABERA (Accelerating Business to Empower Rural women in Agriculture). It offers a high-level view of the opportunities and innovations from financial and agricultural service providers and how tailored financial services add value for both rural women and for the service providers.

Regulating Financial Innovation: What Does It Take?

This working paper introduces vision-guided regulation as an approach that helps financial sector regulators harness innovation for inclusive finance.

Pathways to Financial Inclusion for Young Women: Opportunities for Financial Service Providers and Funders

Based on research in Ghana and Tanzania, this Focus Note presents key opportunities for FSPs and funders to meet the real financial needs of young women aged 15-24.

Safeguarding Financial Inclusion During Crises: Lessons for Policymaking

This paper offers guidance to financial safety-net authorities on designing crisis response measures that both restore financial stability and safeguard financial inclusion.

Competition for Financial Inclusion: A Conceptual Framework

The insights in this paper point to the importance of financial authorities applying an intentional competition lens and offer an analytical framework to help deliver more inclusive and resilient financial systems.

Building Rural Women’s Climate Resilience: Seven Business Drivers Delivering Commercial Value

As climate pressures rise, strengthening rural women’s resilience is critical for their livelihoods and for the long-term viability of the rural businesses that serve them. Through ABERA (Accelerating Business to Empower Rural Women in Agriculture), a CGAP and IDH collaboration, this paper identifies seven practical business drivers that simultaneously strengthen rural women’s climate resilience and business performance.

From Safety Net to Springboard

As climate risks intensify, there is an urgent need to better support low-income communities to adapt and build resilience. This paper highlights an untapped opportunity hiding in plain sight - integrating financial services into social protection programs – and outlines five priorities for funders, policymakers, and social protection professionals to unlock its potential.

From Insights to Interventions: Addressing Gender Norms in Women’s Financial Inclusion

CGAP’s Design Guide introduces a structured, field-tested approach to uncover how gender norms shape market actor behavior, to help development actors move beyond symptoms to address the root causes of women’s financial exclusion.

Diagnosing Gender Norms in the Financial Market System: A Practical Guide

CGAP’s Diagnostic Guide helps development actors move beyond symptoms to address the root causes of women’s financial exclusion. This guide introduces a structured, field-tested approach to uncover how gender norms shape market actor behavior and offers practitioners a powerful set of tools for examining norms-driven constraints and identifying high impact intervention points.