We have launched a COVID-19 Tracker, The survey themes include health and risk behaviours, food security, income, work and job security, personal safety concerns, and access to government and community support. www.covid19tracker.africa
The latest research, blog posts, articles, publications, videos and infographics across all our work.
The SADC Committee of Central Bank Governors, FinMark Trust and Co-Develop have announced a strategic partnership to build a federated electronic Know Your Customer (eKYC) ecosystem spanning 16 member states.
Despite driving 80% of employment in Sub-Saharan Africa, most MSMEs struggle to access formal credit—hindering their growth, innovation, and ability to create jobs. Read more to explore how unlocking finance can change this.
Ahead of launching the FinScope South Africa Consumer Survey 2024 at the upcoming Responsible Finance Forum 2025 in Johannesburg, guest authors from FinMark Trust provide a historical perspective on the survey’s first 20 years.
Africa loses $88.6 billion annually to illicit financial flows, harming development. Financial inclusion can combat this by promoting transparency, reducing unregulated channels, and supporting economic growth.
Lesotho has made remarkable strides in financial inclusion, with 87% of its population having access to formal financial services in 2021. This commendable achievement positions the country among the most financially inclusive in the region.
In the beginning, there was the bank account – a useful dispenser of transactional services. More recently, however, the financial services industry innovated and introduced mobile money as a disruptive financial service.
Families' access to financial resources is crucial for building thriving communities and fostering economic growth. Remittances, as a vital source of income, provide millions of people with the means to meet their basic needs.
FinScope consumer surveys offer insights into people's financial needs, preferences, and behaviour. It does not attempt to replicate the work of censuses or other annual surveys.
The road to the Olympics for a young woman in the country is fraught with hurdles, though. To unpack why, consider the hurdles a young woman who is an aspiring Olympic athlete must overcome,
South Africa experienced a series of unexpected social unrest that saw many township and informal businesses destroyed or looted and malls burnt. It was like a scene from a violent movie, which graduated to loss of lives in some instances.
Although women’s achievements, resilience and innovations exhibited during the Covid-19 pandemic are worth acknowledging, women continue to face various barriers.
The Great Reset has happened. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the inflection point with systemic effects that affect how people live their lives
In every crisis there is an opportunity that exists where innovative individuals can build solutions to the challenges we will be facing.
Limited support has been provided for economic migrants who send money home to support family members. See what support has been created for migrants in South Africa.
Across the continent there has been a very long debate about the payment of interest on mobile money. What has the experience been like in Zimbabwe?
African innovation refers to innovative technologies, start-ups, and programs developed by Africans for African needs and challenges – African Innovation Foundation
a significant portion of adult South Africans are exposed to the necessary delivery of cash to get their social grants
South Africa’s informal savings market thrives – R44 billion collectively saved in approximately 820,000 stokvels.
There is a lot of attention on the effects and impact of Covid-19 on our daily lives and we are immersed in stories from all sectors in South Africa.
The health implications of COVID-19 go beyond the threat it poses itself as an illness.
The research team consists of an international team of academics across ten different international institutions.
We release wave 1 data for our multi-country Covid-19 Livelihoods Impact Survey.
As industries affected by physical-distancing COVID-19 measures race to reconfigure value chains, could platform business models hold the key to accelerated digitisation?
No country or continent is untouched by COVID-19; but developing markets will see more short- and long-term negative social and economic effects than the developed world.
No country or continent is untouched by COVID-19; but developing markets will see more short- and long-term negative social and economic effects than the developed world.
How to ensure inclusive innovation during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Factors which turn specific city regions into engine rooms for tech innovation and taking solutions to market.
Policymakers, development organisations and private sector players, often rely on financial inclusion data uncovered through consumer or ‘demand-side’ surveys.
The new commitment, announced by Secretary of State Alok Sharma, represents the start of an important new approach to financial sector development in sub-Saharan Africa.
The continued journey of data science interns, Dieudonné Niyitanga and Samuel Mutinda
Find out more about one of the course mentors’ learnings from providing support to the course participants and the key role mentorship can play.
The movement of Africa’s rapidly growing urban population will be shaped by digital technologies in the era of smart mobility.
Dieudonné Niyitanga and Samuel Mutinda's data internship journey.
Often policy makers, regulators and financial service providers are far removed from the realities of the people whose lives we are trying to improve.
Using SMS surveys to measure digital financial inclusion
Four findings from the DataHack4FI Innovation Competition.
Four findings from Season 2 of the DataHack4FI Innovation Competition.
The data collected allows for comparison across countries based on measurement dimensions such access, uptake, usage, cost to client,
Translating insights from behavioural science into the design and delivery of financial services,
We have changed the user experience on the insight2impact data portal by making it simpler to navigate.
A cautionary tale about the process of setting up pilot studies
Learnings on the data science landscape in Africa from the DataHack4FI initiative
The MSME (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise) sector is arguably the biggest employer in many economies, particularly in the developing world
What we’ve learned over three seasons of the DataHack4FI innovation competition and how the competition has evolved.
While financial inclusion has risen to 68% globally, Sub Saharan Africa continues to lag with only 32% of its citizens having an account at a financial institution.
Behavioural interventions to better meet the financial needs of consumers
Digital platforms connecting buyers and sellers of goods and services across Africa are on the rise. Learn more about our research and week of learning in Lagos.
We recently rolled out a pilot study in Nigeria, to explore the digital financial services landscape and how it serves the people. Learn more about our findings here.
We take a closer look at financial inclusion research and the shift towards using transactional data to develop more meaningful indicators.
Read more about our work with the Nigerian Inter-bank Settlement System (NIBSS) and the key findings from our transactional data analysis.
We investigate the prospect of new financial inclusion indicators for policymakers, through transactional data analysis.
Cómo puede el sector financiero formal satisfacer mejor las necesidades financieras de los mexicanos?
What opportunities does the digitisation of value chains create for the delivery of financial services?
TheDataHack4FI, the largest Pan-African innovation competition, is an initiative within the i2i (insight2impact) program jointly hosted by FinMark Trust and Cenfri.
FinScope data analysis has revealed many insights on gender.
How can the formal financial sector better meet the financial needs of Mexicans?
The Shoprite cross-border money remittance product reached the R1 billion mark in January 2019
Insights from an expert workshop on the potential of African digital platforms to influence development
Can digital platforms offer innovative solutions to overcome barriers to low insurance penetration in African markets?
In mid-July, FinMark Trust and Bankable Frontiers Associate (BFA) set off to Malawi to conduct a feasibility study of the potential of a digital financial identity
Thoughts from Zimbabwe on the importance of understanding the consumer in the credit market
Early findings from our African digital platforms and the future of financial services research
Using the example of three specific financial inclusion initiatives, we examine what drives usage.
Access and uptake are necessary for meaningful financial inclusion.
The Financial Access Points (FAP) mapping project in Lesotho was conducted between December 2017 and March 2018.
The Financial Access Points (FAP) mapping project in Lesotho was conducted between December 2017 and March 2018.
The current economic situation in South Africa presents a large number of people relying on the informal economy,
Namibians who do not have access to financial services stood at 22% in 2017, down from 31% in 2011 and 51% in 2007.
The ability of women-led agribusiness to acquire the necessary capital for quality inputs on purely commercial terms
During the course of the Hackathon, the participants were exposed to a number of skills development sessions.
The current global remittance market is estimated to be in the region of USD 500 billion annually and is expected to grow in future.
With more digital transactions being concluded, cash still dominates the scene.
Applying relatively simple analytical methods to traditional data can yield positive returns for organisations.
Financial service providers can use behavioural interventions to help their clients overcome the intention-behaviour gap.
If trust is critical for driving usage of financial products and services, how is trust built?
We buy things we don’t need with money we don’t have to impress people we don’t like
Researchers should be aware of the constraints when working with mobile survey panels.
The importance of data for closing the financial inclusion gender gap
Behavioural science is being used to address challenges in suboptimal decision-making.
Designing mobile surveys can be challenging – and rewarding. Here is some practical advice.
Exploring the factors that drive usage to better understand how the gap can be bridged.
I bought myself a fitness band recently and I’ve found it quite useful in encouraging me to get off the couch.
The third blog in our Measurement Frameworks series incorporates learnings from the retail sector on how consumers use products and engage with services.
The second blog in our Measurement Frameworks series, building tools to measure how, and how much, consumers benefit from Financial Inclusion.
The first of three blogs in our Introduction to Measurement Frameworks series, discussing how we focus on improving Financial Incusion.
The widespread use of the mobile phone and other smart devices has presented researchers with a golden platform to collect data in more innovative and creative ways.
Discussing some innovative quantitative methods that could be used when conducting financial inclusion research.
Innovative research techniques help us to delve deeper into the dynamics of financial inclusion.
Faith started her enterprise with her own income and lacks access to finance to grow beyond the few fruit stalls she owns.
As you leave Kampala and its busy streets, you head into rural Uganda where you exchange small shops
Thoughts from the first event in the #DataHacks4FI meet-up series in Naroibi
Building mutually beneficial financial inclusion communities through data
Getting ready for the i2i and FSD Tanzania workshop on spatial data for business intelligence
Why what you measure in financial inclusion is so important to the outcomes you achieve
KCB’s Experience with Data
4th MasterCard Foundation Symposium on Financial Inclusion
Using innovation to enhance financial inclusion whilst protecting personal data
Patience, a restaurant owner in Goma in the eastern DRC, has a dream of owning her own land.
Why the problem with demand-side surveys is not the respondents’ answers, but the questions we ask them
In recent times most law courts in Africa have not been suitable places to enforce or defend low-value retail credit contracts
Revisiting the role of technology in demand-side surveys in lower tech and lower literacy environments
Worried about how to improve your credit score? At least you have one.
They say that “if you want to go fast, go alone, but if you want to go far, go together.”
More and more financial service providers (FSPs) are looking to data to inform investment decisions
You manage what you measure and thus it is important to have a measurement framework that drives the right behaviour.
The FinScope 2010 South Africa Small Business Survey is the first comprehensive publicly available nationally representative survey