MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP UP: “Women Agents for Financial Inclusion: Exploring the Benefits, Constraints and Potential Solutions,” by Emilio Hernandez et al, Published by CGAP

Based on data collected from projects in India, Ghana and Pakistan that aim to improve financial inclusion for rural women, the authors examine the interplay between gender dynamics and the employment of women as agents supplying in cash-in and cash-out (CICO) services. This includes the impact these agents can have on communities, the challenges faced by women in becoming and succeeding as agents, and possible solutions to these challenges.

While training to become CICO agents,

MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Gendered Investment Differences Among Smallholder Farmers: Evidence from a Microcredit Programme in Western Kenya,” by Keiji Jindo et al

The authors of this study conducted a client-level analysis to examine differences in the investment behavior of female and male microcredit users in Kenya. The scope included

MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “The Global State of Financial Inclusion and Consumer Protection 2022,” by Buddy Buruku et al, published by the World Bank Group

This update of similar reports published in 2013 and 2017 covers legal and regulatory issues related to financial inclusion and consumer protection across the world. The authors surveyed financial regulators and supervisors across 130 economies.

MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Mobile Money, Interoperability and Financial Inclusion;” by Markus K Brunnermeier et al; published by National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

In this paper, the authors examined the effects of platform interoperability on competition and financial inclusion in Africa. In particular, they studied interoperability among mobile money operators, a mechanism that allows users to transfer money between different mobile money providers and across mobile networks.

MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “2023 Microfinance Index Report,” Published by 60 Decibels

This report provides insight into the experience of financial services provider (FSP) clients, including quantitative comparisons of FSPs across regions and snapshots of FSP performance in Cambodia, Ecuador, India, Indonesia and Uganda.

The authors constructed the dataset from

MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “State of the Art of Green Inclusive Finance 2011-2019: Worldwide Status and Progress Over 10 Years,” by e-MFP Green Inclusive and Climate Smart Finance Action Group

The authors of this paper assess the evolution of the green inclusive finance sector from 2011 to 2019. This encompasses products offered by a range of types of financial ser­vices pro­viders (FSPs), including climate insur­ance

MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Child Labor, Rainfall Shocks and Financial Inclusion: Evidence from Rural Households,” by Carolina Bernal and Razvan Vlaicu, Published by IDB

Ms Bernal and Dr Vlaicu combine rainfall data and household survey results to examine how rural Colombian families respond to in­come shocks produced by unexpected weather events. In particular, they investigate the “inter-temporal trade-off” that households face

MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Climate Risk and Financial Inclusion: A Regulatory Perspective on Risks and Opportunities;” by Peter Knaack, Peter Zetterli

This paper analyzes how climate change may impact the stability of financial systems and – particularly – access to financial services for groups that often have difficulty with such access, including micro- and small enterprises (MSEs) as well as low-income households and those in rural areas. The authors emphasize three challenges:

MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Land Titling and Microcredit in Cambodia: Examining the Reality of Hernando de Soto’s ‘Three Steps to Heaven,’” by Milford Bateman

In this paper, Dr Bateman examines the Cambodian microcredit industry and argues against prior claims that increases in land titling lead to access to credit that enables poor landowners to increase their incomes. The results are based on

MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Agritech and Fintech Providers in East and Southern Africa: A Landscape Assessment;” published by IFAD, SAFIN

The authors of this paper address: (1) the environment that financial institutions in East and Southern Africa (ESA) face when lending to agricultural micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs); and (2) how this lending can be increased via agricultural technology (agritech) and financial technology (fintech) firms. The challenges include

MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Driving Digital Financial Services in Africa Through Merchant Acceptance of Digital Payments,” published by Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI)

This paper examines the growth and challenges of digital payment adoption by retailers in Africa, including “contactless payment (QR codes, tap to pay) [and] buy-now-pay-later” services. The authors note four main prerequisites for merchant adoption:

MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Establishing a Financial Services Ombudsman in Mongolia: Experiences and Lessons from Armenia, Australia and Singapore,” by Massimiliano Gangi et al

This paper explores the potential of introducing an independent ombudsman system to address complaints by consumers against financial services providers (FSPs) in Mongolia by exploring existing dispute resolution systems in Armenia, Australia and Singapore.

Among the similarities of these three systems are:

MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Worth Your Weight: Experimental Evidence on the Benefits of Obesity in Low-income Countries,” by Elise Macchi

This paper examines how the perception of obesity as a symbol of wealth can yield financial benefits to overweight people in southern Uganda. The author applied computer software to photos of 34 test subjects to create

MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Determinants of Choice of Credit Source Among Clients of Microfinance Systems in the Upper West Region of Ghana,” by Paul Bata Domanban et al

The authors of this article examined which groups of people in northwestern Ghana were more and less likely to borrow money from microfinance institutions (MFIs). The authors conducted

MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Predictors of Microfinance Sustainability: Empirical Evidence from Bangladesh,” by Maeenuddin et al

This article examines the financial sustainability of microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Bangladesh. Using data from the MIX Market database, the authors develop a

MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Mind the Gap in Financial Inclusion! Microcredit Institutions Fieldwork in Peru;” by Pilar Lopez-Sancheza, Elena Urquia-Grande

Microfinance providers in Peru carry a combined outstanding loan portfolio equivalent to USD 12.7 billion, serving 5 million borrowers. Dr Lopez-Sancheza and Dr Urquia-Grande conducted a qualitative analysis of these loans based on

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: First Consult, Mastercard Foundation, Seek to Create 400k Jobs in Ethiopia via Access to Finance, Wraparound Support for MSMEs, Entrepreneurs

Ethiopia’s First Consult and the Canada-based Mastercard Foundation recently launched a programme intended to increase financial inclusion and support 72,000 micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Ethiopia to

MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Impact of Microcredit on Household Consumption and Assets in Nepal;” by Shalik Ram Pokhrel

Dr Pokhrel hypothesized that microcredit is a sustainable tool for poverty reduction, based on the idea that access to microcredit can improve household income and employment opportunities, thus leading to increases in household consumption and asset ownership. The study employed data from