Financial sector innovation in Africa

The RRI programme, a partnership between Cenfri and FSD Africa, worked to remove barriers to inclusive finance for an estimated 5.6 million people in sub-Saharan Africa. The initiative focused on regulatory reform, capacity building for 750 regulators, and providing advice to 530 financial service providers to foster innovation in payments, insurance, and remittances. Key findings highlight that simple adaptations to supervisory processes are often more effective than complex regulatory sandboxes and that regional payment and data infrastructure are critical for the success of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (ACFTA).

• The RRI programme removed barriers to inclusive finance for approximately 5.6 million people, specifically targeting those in Ghana and Zimbabwe who were excluded from formal financial services due to a lack of physical identity documents.
• The programme achieved several scale-based outcomes, including supporting over 338,000 remittance receivers or cross-border traders with new channels, enabling nearly 24,000 low-income households to access insurance, and providing capacity-building to 750 regulators, supervisors, and policymakers.
• The programme influenced 19 regulatory approaches and frameworks globally and regionally, including guiding central banks on central-bank digital currency (CBDC) through the International Telecommunication Union and developing insurance technology guidance with the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) and the Access to Insurance Initiative.
• Regional financial and data integration is currently lagging behind the goals of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (ACFTA), as many countries continue to prioritize national payments infrastructure and localized data policies, which may hinder cross-border trade.
• The programme found that simple adaptations to existing supervisory processes are more effective and less resource-intensive for regulators to balance innovation and consumer protection than the use of national regulatory sandboxes.

APA

FSD Africa (n.d.). Financial sector innovation in Africa. https://fsdafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/RRI-impact-infographic_final.pdf

Chicago

FSD Africa. Financial sector innovation in Africa. n.d. https://fsdafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/RRI-impact-infographic_final.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=FSD Africa |title=Financial sector innovation in Africa |url=https://fsdafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/RRI-impact-infographic_final.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{fsdafricandfinancial, author = {{FSD Africa}}, title = {{Financial sector innovation in Africa}}, institution = {FSD Africa}, url = {https://fsdafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/RRI-impact-infographic_final.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }