Catalpa, a development organization based in Timor-Leste, is partnering with the Pacific Financial Inclusion Program (PFIP), a UN effort based in Fiji, to pilot-test an app called Olgeta, which will provide education via mobile phones to young women in rural parts of the Solomon Islands. The service will cover topics “such as leadership, financial literacy and digital marketing,” including “how to budget, bank, and save…”. The six-month pilot will target the 120 people served by two
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MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: PFIP Launches ‘Ave Pa’anga Pau Financial Inclusion Platform with Remittance Channel to Tonga Development Bank from New Zealand’s Kiwi Bank
People living in New Zealand reportedly now can send money to loved ones in Tonga at a lower price. Senders can purchase vouchers with New Zealand dollars from Kiwi Bank, which has 471 branches in New Zealand, and receivers get the remittance in local currency in their Tonga Development Bank accounts. To conform with anti-money laundering regulation, the sender must
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: FijiCare Providing Life, Disability, Fire Microinsurance to Fiji Co-operative Dairy Members, Supported by UN’s Pacific Financial Inclusion Program (PFIP)
FijiCare Insurance, a general insurer operating in Fiji and Vanuatu, has been working with the 300-member Fiji Co-operative Dairy Company to design an insurance package they plan to sell to cooperative members at a cost of
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Women’s Micro-Bank Limited of Papua New Guinea (PNG) Piloting 6 Branchless Banking “Mama-Bank Access Points” with Support from UN’s Pacific Financial Inclusion Program (PFIP)
Women’s Micro-Bank Limited, a subsidiary of the PNG Women in Business Foundation, recently announced it will establish six branchless banking locations, one each in six different regions of Papua New Guinea (PNG). Each of these Mama-Bank Access Points will be staffed by two employees with tablet computers that can identify users via biometric information without the need for
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: HFC Bank, Vodafone Fiji, PFIP, Epay Target Rural Fijians via Mobile Banking
Home Finance Company (HFC) Bank, which is headquartered in Suva, Fiji, recently announced
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: PFIP Giving $450k to Solomon Islands’ Government to Digitize Tax Payments
The Pacific Financial Inclusion Program, a Fiji-based initiative of the UN that works to extend financial services to unbanked Pacific Islanders, recently granted USD 450,000 to the Solomon Islands’ Inland Revenue Division (IRD) with the goal of increasing the availability of electronic payment channels for taxes paid by “123,800 wage and salary employees, 200 corporate taxpayers and 3,684 small businesses.”
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Solomon Islands’ National Provident Fund Launches youSave Retirement Savings Plan for Self-employed With Support from UN’s PFIP
The National Provident Fund, a government-backed retirement trust in the Solomon Islands, recently launched youSave, a savings plan designed to help self-employed islanders establish and contribute to retirement accounts as do “formally employed” citizens.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Australian Government, ANZ Bank, PFIP to Connect Solomon Islands’ Coconut Farmers to Mobile Banking
The Australian government; the Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) Bank, a publicly traded commercial bank; and the Pacific Financial Inclusion Program (PFIP), a Fiji-based initiative of the United Nations that attempts to extend financial services to unbanked Pacific Islanders, recently started a program with a budget of SBD 5 million (USD 650,000) to connect rural coconut oil producers, laborers, buyers and transport operators in the Solomon Islands with digital financial services.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Pacific Financial Inclusion Programme (PFIP), Bima Partner to Offer Microinsurance in Rural Papua New Guinea
The Pacific Financial Inclusion Programme (PFIP), a Fiji-based United Nations initiative that attempts to extend financial services to unbanked Pacific Islanders, and Bima, a Sweden-based microinsurance provider that partners with mobile operators, recently launched an effort with the support of the European Union, the Australian government and the Bank of Papua New Guinea to provide two microinsurance products in Papua New Guinea (PNG) [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Australian Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade Donates $13m to Pacific Financial Inclusion Program (PFIP)
The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Canberra-based government agency responsible for Australia’s international relations, trade and development assistance programs, reportedly will fund a three-year program with AUD 14.15 million (USD 13.13 million) to support the Pacific Financial Inclusion Program (PFIP).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Fiji’s National Financial Inclusion Taskforce (NFIT), Reserve Bank of Fiji (RBF), Pacific Financial Inclusion Program (PFIP) Make Progress Towards 2014 Goal of Financial Inclusion for 150k Unbanked Citizens
Fiji’s National Financial Inclusion Taskforce (NFIT), a committee formed in 2010 by the country’s national bank the Reserve Bank of Fiji (RBF) and the Pacific Financial Inclusion Program (PFIP), a program established with the intent of increasing access to financial services among low-income households in the Pacific Islands, reportedly has reached 87 percent of its goal of extending financial services to 150,000 unbanked citizens in the country by 2014 [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: The United Nations’ Pacific Financial Inclusion Program (PFIP) Releases “Fiji Financial Services Sector Assessment” Calling for Expansion of Microfinance Sector, Especially Through the Development of Accessible Savings Services
The United Nations’ Pacific Financial Inclusion Program (PFIP) has recently released the report “Fiji Financial Services Sector Assessment.” According to the report, About 109,000 households in Fiji do not have access to savings, credit or other financial services [1]. The report highlights that, although the nation has a well-developed financial sector, it primarily caters to the affluent and salaried urban population, and there are missed opportunities for the financial inclusion of more Fiji Islanders, particularly considering Fiji’s favorable infrastructure.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Australia Supports Microfinance with $1.8m Pledge to the Pacific Financial Inclusion Program (PFIP)
The Australian government has agreed to provide AUD 2 million (the equivalent of USD 1.8 million) over the next three years to the Pacific Financial Inclusion Program (PFIP), a program established with the intent of increasing access to financial services among low-income households in the Pacific Islands.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: India-UN Development Partnership Fund to Provide $850k for Climate-disaster Index Insurance in Fiji
The government of India and the UN Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC), through the India-UN Development Partnership Fund that they co-manage, recently agreed to contribute FJD 1.8 million (USD 850,000) to implement the Developing Climate Disaster Risk Financing Framework and Parametric Insurance program in Fiji. The funding is intended to mitigate
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: CBSI, SINPF Launch LoMobile, Offering Digital Access to youSave Accounts for Self-employed Workers in Solomon Islands
The Central Bank of Solomon Islands (CBSI) and the Solomon Islands National Provident Fund (SINPF), a government-backed retirement trust, recently launched LoMobile, a digital savings channel that allows SINPF account holders to
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: TVL Launches M-Vatu Mobile Money in Vanuatu
Telecom Vanuatu Limited (TVL), a mobile network operator in Vanuatu, recently launched the mobile money service M-Vatu with technical and financial assistance from the UN’s Pacific Financial Inclusion Programme (PFIP) and the Australian government. The platform, which allows users to
MICROFINANCE PUBLICATION ROUND-UP: Financial Literacy, Gender Disparity in the Solomon Islands; Savings Groups’ Impact in Ghana, Malawi, Uganda; Financial Inclusion Survey in Vanuatu
“Case Study: SolTuna – Tuna Processing, Solomon Islands;” published by the International Finance Corporation; September 2016; 20 pages; available at:
http://www.ifc.org/wps/wcm/connect/d4561543-cc39-4a9d-9963-26eb5ab4169c/soltuna_updated_May2017.pdf?MOD=AJPERES
This case study investigates the connections between financial literacy and the reduction of absenteeism and other problems at SolTuna, a tuna processing plant in the Solomon Islands.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Solomon Islands’ Government Sets Goal of 80% Electronic Payments by 2020
The government of the Solomon Islands recently announced it will attempt to shift to using “electronic payment channels for [80 percent of its] payments and receipts” by 2020.