Source: Cgap.org - Zunia.org

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Featured country
- Lesotho
  
  People
  
  Population 2.01 mln
  
  Population growth 1%
  
  Life expectancy 43 years
  
  Net migration -36,000
  
  Economy
  
  GDP $1.6 bln
  
  - per capita $798
  
  - growth rate 5%
  
  FDI, net inflows $0.13 bln
  
  Infrastructure
  
  Cellphone users 23%
  
  Internet users 3%
  
  See country profile and 98 posts for Lesotho

Source: Cgap.org

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Can Postal Networks Advance Financial Inclusion in the Arab World?

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As existing and trusted institutions with large branch networks reaching rural areas, Arab postal networks have the potential to be powerful tools in the fight for greater financial inclusion in the Arab world. Beyond a few success stories, however, the Arab World has so far not capitalized on the potential of its postal networks. This is a glaring omission in light of demographic trends that highlight the need for financial access: growing population, high fertility rates, large youth and more...

Added by

Moushumi Biswas on May 08, 2012

Social Cash Transfers and Financial Inclusion: Evidence from Four Countries

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This Focus Note analyzes the profitability, affordability and use of electronic social cash transfers in Brazil, Colombia, Mexico and South Africa. By the end of 2012, it is expected that in the countries studied, only a small minority of G2P recipients will still be paid in cash.

Added by

Moushumi Biswas on April 16, 2012

Financially Inclusive Ecosystems: The Roles of Government Today

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This Focus Note first describes the challenges of the broader financial inclusion landscape and explores three roles that government can play in developing more financially inclusive ecosystems. It also discusses various ways in which the development community can support government actors to focus their efforts on this new inclusive ecosystem.Governments are increasingly interested in promoting financial inclusion. Three roles where government can have significant impact are: as promoter of more...

Added by

D C on February 07, 2012

Latest findings from randomized evaluations of Microfinance

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This paper summarizes research findings from a new body of empirical evidence that uses randomized evaluations to compare how one group responds to access to specific new financial services against how a comparable group fares without those services. It goes back to the first studies that used this approach and summarizes a series of research studies presented at the October 2010 Microfinance Impact and Innovation Conference in New York.The paper reviews results from randomized evaluations that more...

Added by

D C on November 30, 2011

Designing Disclosure Regimes for Responsible Financial Inclusion

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In East Africa, a microborrower who goes to pay off his loan early is surprised by a hefty prepayment penalty that was not mentioned in his loan agreement. A small business owner in Southeast Asia becomes frustrated trying to determine which of several loans is the least expensive--one comes with a flat charge, another a weekly interest rate, and still another a monthly rate with an upfront deduction.

Added by

Moushumi Biswas on March 20, 2012

Poor people using mobile financial services: Observations on customer usage and impact from M-PESA

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M-PESA is a mobile phone-based service for sending and storing money offered by Safaricom, Kenya’s largest mobile service provider. Safaricom customers can register for M-PESA by visiting one of more than 10,000 merchants who act as “agents” for account opening, handling of deposits and withdrawals into the customer’s virtual “wallet,” and customer support. Customers can then use an application on their mobile phone to check their balance, send money to other people, pay bills, and purchase more...

Added by

D C on October 17, 2011

Winners from the 2011 CGAP Microfinance Photography Contest

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Photographers from over 70 countries made 2011 the most competitive year so far in the contest, now in its sixth year. The winners are a mix of professional photographers and those for whom photography is a passionate hobby. Judges named Ngo Quang Phuc of Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam the winner of the 2011 contest for his photo of workers drying salt taken in Khanh Hoa, on Vietnam's South Central Coast. Phuc, 55, has been working as a professional photographer in Vietnam for the last 15 years. His more...

Added by

Erin Scronce on January 10, 2012

Trends in Cross-Border Funding

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Microfinance funding is becoming more transparent. More than 60 microfinance funders regularly report information on their microfinance portfolio to CGAP, and extensive data are available on microfinance investment vehicles (MIVs) through Symbiotics and MicroRate. In 2011, CGAP surveyed the 20 largest microfinance funders, which represented over 85% of commitments reported in the previous survey year. Based on the findings of that survey and previous surveys, this Brief describes global trends more...

Added by

Moushumi Biswas on December 20, 2011

Randomized Microfinance Evaluations Highlight Opportunities for Improved Product Design

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CGAP has released a new paper, Latest Findings from Randomized Evaluations of Microfinance, which synthesizes the latest research findings from around the world on a range of financial services, including credit, savings, and microinsurance. These existing studies offer a foundation for examining when particular products and designs work, for whom, and why, so that products and delivery approaches can be adjusted to meet the needs of poor people.Written jointly with researchers from the more...

Added by

Erin Scronce on December 05, 2011

Branchless Banking in Pakistan: A Laboratory for Innovation

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Pakistan is one of the fastest developing markets for branchless banking in the world. Clear regulations and a regulator that is willing to both listen to the private sector and provide incentives for innovation have promoted a dynamic branchless banking sector. Two players have already launched services, and others are waiting in the wings. This Brief highlights both existing and anticipated businesses and outlines the key challenges and opportunities that are likely to shape the market over more...

Added by

Moushumi Biswas on October 13, 2011

Andhra Pradesh 2010: Global Implications of the Crisis in Indian Microfinance

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India has a population of 1.2 billion, with less than one-quarter of adults having access to basic formal financial services. Financial inclusion initiatives are not new to India. Over the past century, a range of innovative approaches to expanding access to finance for poor people has been pursued. Early in the 20th Century laws were passed to create cooperative financial institutions to serve people living in rural areas. Following independence in 1947, much of India's financial sector was more...

Added by

Farina Ahmed on December 08, 2010

Emerging Lessons of Public Funders in Branchless Banking

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The potential of branchless banking services to fundamentally transform the way low-income people manage their money has generated tremendous enthusiasm in the financial inclusion world. This paper highlights emerging lessons from the public funders that have been engaged in branchless banking. The goal is to help other funders consider the role they might play in this area. Branchless banking offers the potential to fundamentally transform the way low-income clients can access financial more...

Added by

Farina Ahmed on July 31, 2011

Grameen Bank and Mohammed Yunus: A Timeline

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On March 2, 2011, Bangladesh’s Central Bank issued a letter to Grameen Bank’s board indicating that Grameen Bank had failed to get Bangladesh Bank’s approval before reappointing Yunus in 1999; a requirement under Grameen Bank’s legal status. Yunus challenged this move in a high court which upheld the Central Bank’s letter and Yunus’s lawyers issued a new petition to Bangladesh’s supreme court which was also been dismissed (pending final legal technicalities). These maneuvers come amidst an more...

Added by

Farina Ahmed on May 11, 2011

Nonbank E-Money Issuers: Regulatory Approaches to Protecting Customer Funds

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M-PESA, Kenya’s mobile phone-based money transfer service, exploded onto the scene in 2007. In just three years, it has attracted over 9.5 million customers, in a country with only 8.4 million bank accounts. Every month, more than US$320 million flows through M-PESA in person-to-person transfers, and the numbers keep rising. By nearly all accounts, M-PESA has been an admirable success and has expanded access to basic financial services to millions of underserved Kenyans. M-PESA has captured the more...

Added by

Moushumi Biswas on August 01, 2010

Agent Management Toolkit: Building a Viable Network of Branchless Banking Agents

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This guide presents practical advice to providers on how to build a viable network of agents, which is a critical component of a branchless banking service. This guide is based on more than a year of research that yielded data on more than 16,000 agents in Brazil, India, and Kenya. In-depth interviews were conducted with 466 agents and more than two dozen agent network managers and providers. The guide focuses on the experience of five successful branchless banking services: Banco do Brasil and more...

Added by

Farina Ahmed on February 19, 2011

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