Digitisation of humanitarian and government social payments

This briefing describes a two-phase project funded by the FCDO and implemented by Strategic Impact Advisors (SIA) to increase the uptake of digital cash transfers for humanitarian and government social payments in Nigeria.

• Phase I of the project involved surveying the landscape of delivery mechanisms for government social protection and humanitarian cash payments in Nigeria, assessing mobile financial services and digitally enabled payments. This phase resulted in a May 2021 report and an implementation roadmap focused on achieving an open-loop payment ecosystem where unrestricted cash transfers are delivered to digital wallets.
• Phase II consists of developing concept notes to drive digital cash transfer interventions in Nigeria. Four specific concept notes are in production: one on using community savings groups as entry points, one on segmentation for government social payments, one on segmentation for humanitarian unrestricted cash transfers, and one on building foundational ID ecosystems for beneficiary targeting. As of October 2022, the first two notes were finalised and the latter two were in draft format.
• The project has engaged a wide range of stakeholders through interviews and meetings, including government bodies like the National Cash Transfer Organization (NCTO) and National Social Safety-Nets Coordinating Office (NASSCO), international agencies such as the World Food Programme (WFP), and NGOs including MercyCorps, GiveDirectly, Plan International, ZOA, Action Against Hunger, and CARE International. Other participants include FCDO Nigeria, EFInA, GSMA, and various financial service providers such as banks and mobile network operators.

APA

FSD Africa (2022). Digitisation of humanitarian and government social payments. https://fsdafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Digital-Economy-Digitisation-of-humanitarian-and-government-social-payments-1.pdf

Chicago

FSD Africa. Digitisation of humanitarian and government social payments. 2022. https://fsdafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Digital-Economy-Digitisation-of-humanitarian-and-government-social-payments-1.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=FSD Africa |title=Digitisation of humanitarian and government social payments |date=October 2022 |url=https://fsdafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Digital-Economy-Digitisation-of-humanitarian-and-government-social-payments-1.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{fsdafrica2022digitisation, author = {{FSD Africa}}, title = {{Digitisation of humanitarian and government social payments}}, institution = {FSD Africa}, year = {2022}, month = oct, url = {https://fsdafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Digital-Economy-Digitisation-of-humanitarian-and-government-social-payments-1.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }