Search Climate Insights Directory

This report explores how cell captive insurance structures can address structural constraints in sub-Saharan African (SSA) insurance markets, such as fragmentation, lack of innovation, and limited capacity for specialised risks. It identifies four primary use cases—specialised risk management, retail innovation, market participation, and offshore financial centre development—and provides a decision framework for regulators to design appropriate legal and supervisory structures.

This report by FSD Africa and Cenfri examines the remittance landscape in Nigeria, identifying it as the highest recipient of remittances in Africa. While formal flows are significant, the sector is characterized by high informality, regulatory volatility, and infrastructure gaps that hinder the reduction of transaction costs and the expansion of financial inclusion.

This briefing note, based on 2018 research by FSD Africa and ELAN RDC, assesses the demand for financial and non-financial goods and services among refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). It identifies a significant, underserved market with substantial aggregate spending power, particularly among IDPs, and highlights opportunities for financial service providers in micro-loans, digital credit, and utility payment systems.

The 'Women’s empowerment and Savings Groups: Monitoring and results measurement toolkit' provides a comprehensive framework for measuring women's empowerment across seven domains: economic independence, decision-making, confidence and self-worth, voice and leadership, time use, mobility, and health. It argues that while Savings Groups alone improve economic independence and self-worth, integrating economic development activities or gender-transformative programming is necessary to achieve broader social changes, such as shifting gender norms and reducing gender-based violence. The toolkit emphasizes the use of Theories of Change, a mix of quantitative and qualitative indicators, and data segmentation to account for the diversity of women's experiences.

This report, produced by DMA Global for FSD Africa, examines the drivers and barriers influencing the migration of remittance senders from cash-based agent services to digital channels for transfers from the UK to Africa. Based on focus group discussions (FGDs) with 74 members of various African diaspora communities in London, the report finds that while online service usage has surged in some communities, a strong 'stickiness' to cash remains in others, often linked to the quality of digital payment infrastructure in the receive-country.

This case study by FSD Africa examines the remittance landscape in Uganda, identifying it as a net recipient of remittances with significant inflows from the UK, South Sudan, and Rwanda. While the market is advanced, it faces high costs, significant informality, and regulatory hurdles, particularly regarding mobile money and KYC requirements.

This report by BFA for FSD Africa examines the financial needs and economic enablers of forcibly displaced people (FDPs) in Rwanda. It analyzes the barriers preventing financial service providers (FSPs) from serving refugees, such as unclear Know-Your-Customer (KYC) requirements and perceived credit risks, while highlighting the potential for business growth through improved documentation, mobility, and targeted credit products.

The M-Akiba Post Issuance Survey, commissioned by FSD Africa and conducted by BFA, examines the low conversion rate of a mobile-money-based government bond in Kenya. While the product successfully attracted a broad new investor base and saw high registration numbers, only a small fraction of registered users actually invested. The report identifies critical failures in timing, communication, user interface, and customer support as the primary drivers of this low uptake.

This report identifies and ranks the supply-side market barriers that increase the cost and limit the access of formal remittance services in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). It analyzes the remittance value chain across the first, middle, and last miles, categorizing impediments into business case, regulatory, infrastructure, and consumer-related barriers. The study finds that SSA is the most expensive region globally for remittances, with an average cost of 9.4%, driven by a combination of rigid KYC requirements, a persistent preference for cash, and underdeveloped payment infrastructure.

This case study examines M-Akiba, the first mobile treasury instrument sold in Africa, launched by the Kenyan government in 2017. While the product successfully attracted new retail investors, it suffered from low uptake due to poor timing, confusing purchase processes, and inadequate customer support.

This report by BFA for FSD Africa assesses the demand for and business case for providing formal financial services to refugees in Rwanda. It concludes that refugees are a viable customer segment with income levels and profitability potential comparable to typical low-income Rwandan nationals, provided that financial service providers (FSPs) utilize cross-selling strategies and regulatory hurdles regarding identification are addressed.

This FSD Africa briefing highlights the persistent gender gap in financial inclusion in sub-Saharan Africa and presents Savings Groups as a successful strategy for empowerment. These member-owned groups provide low-income women with access to savings, credit, and insurance, serving as a pathway to formal financial services. The FSD Network has invested over $28 million since 2008 to expand these groups across several African nations and is partnering with the SEEP Network to generate evidence on their impact on women's empowerment.

This executive summary describes the role and impact of executive education (ExEd) within the financial sectors of sub-Saharan Africa. It identifies a growing demand for these non-degree graduate-level programmes to address the 'underdeveloped' nature of the continent's financial sector, while highlighting a need for more practical, less theoretical curricula and better alignment between education and employee compensation.

This report by Dick Clark of Consult Hyperion for FSD Africa provides an analysis of biometric technologies and their application in retail payments and financial services, specifically within emerging economies. It distinguishes between biometric identification (1:N matching) and verification (1:1 matching), concluding that while identification is costly and complex, biometrics are increasingly valuable for strong authentication and customer verification in digital financial services.

This report examines the potential of Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), including public blockchains like Bitcoin and private distributed ledgers, to improve funds transfers and financial inclusion in emerging markets. It analyzes how these technologies can reduce remittance costs, streamline inter-institutional clearing and settlement, and enhance regulatory oversight for Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Know Your Customer (KYC) processes.

This document introduces a guide on market facilitation based on the FSD network's experience. It defines facilitators as external change agents who address market constraints to improve financial inclusion through a public, temporary role, drawing on seven case studies by the Springfield Centre to illustrate the M4P approach.

This synthesis paper by FSD Africa examines the application of the Making Markets Work for the Poor (M4P) approach within the Financial Sector Deepening (FSD) Network. Based on seven case studies, the document provides guidelines for market facilitators to achieve systemic, sustainable, and scalable change in financial markets to reduce poverty. It emphasizes the need for facilitators to act as neutral, technically competent third parties who address root causes of market failure rather than symptoms, while managing the tensions between donor requirements and the flexibility needed for market systems development.

This market scoping study by Nathan Associates for FSD Africa examines the agricultural equipment leasing landscape in eight sub-Saharan African countries. It identifies systemic market failures across supply, demand, support functions, and regulatory environments that hinder the growth of leasing as an alternative to traditional asset financing for farmers and SMEs.

This case study examines FSD Tanzania's (FSDT) efforts to operationalise the Enterprise Growth Market (EGM), an alternative investment channel of the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange (DSE) designed to provide long-term equity capital for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs). FSDT provided approximately USD 1.36 million in grants to the Capital Markets and Securities Authority (CMSA) and the DSE to build regulatory capacity, increase public awareness, and support the listing of growth-oriented SMEs.

This report documents a national stakeholder meeting held in Cotonou, Benin, on February 16, 2017, hosted by the SEEP Network and FSD Africa. The meeting brought together 39 participants from 26 organizations—including government ministries, NGOs, and financial service providers—to explore how Savings Groups (SGs) serve as agents for broader social and economic development in Benin, specifically within the sectors of agriculture, health, and formal financial inclusion.