Blog

By Data2X

In conjunction with International Women’s Day on March 8, 2019, AFI is publishing a series of blog posts throughout the week including contributions from our donors and private sector partners. Join us in embracing innovative ways to advance gender equality and women’s economic empowerment.

If we want to improve the lives of women and…

Did you know that almost one billion women are still excluded from the formal financial system despite progress towards financial inclusion? The gender gap in access to bank accounts remains at a stubborn 7 percent globally, and at 9 percent in developing countries and emerging economies. The gap is larger still when it comes to active…

“The secret of success of humankind is large-scale flexible cooperation.”
- Prof Yuval Noah Harari

As a global policy leadership alliance, the AFI network thrives on close cooperation between member institutions from around the world to advance financial inclusion for the world’s…

This blog post was written and published by UNCDF SHIFT.

Know your customer (KYC) or customer due diligence (CDD) requirements  that ensure compliance with Anti Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) regimes to guarantee the integrity of the financial system are often cited as barriers to  financial inclusion, particularly…

Written by Governor Caroline Abel, Central Bank of Seychelles

In recent years, there has been both national and global efforts to enhance financial inclusion, which is not only about people having access to financial services and products, but also about people having the right knowledge and capabilities, to use these products and services to…

Written by Prof. Florens D.A.M Luoga, Governor, Bank of Tanzania

Without access to financial services, it is difficult for people to attain basic social and economic needs. Lack of access to financial services entraps the poor and vulnerable segments of the society in the vicious cycle of poverty, making it harder for them to fully participate in the economy. Access to financial…

This blog post was written and published by UNCDF SHIFT.

Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI) celebrated its 10-year anniversary and achievements towards advancing financial inclusion at its annual Global Policy Forum. It’s been three years since the United Nations Capital Development Fund’s (UNCDF) Shaping Inclusive Finance Transformations…

The 2017 Global Findex reveals that religious belief is one of the top 10 reasons for financial exclusion, attributing to 6 percent of the statistics — a small percentage. However, Islamic finance could potentially address one of the impediments of financial inclusion and bring approximately 40 million individuals or more into the formal…

AFI is proud to recognize thirteen Fellows from AFI member institutions, who graduated from the Fletcher School Leadership Program for Financial Inclusion (FLPFI) on 5 September, 2018 at the Omega Sochi Hotel in Sochi, Russia. The graduation ceremony took place in the presence of alumni and other friends of the program.

The year-long program is designed for financial…

Bangladesh is playing a flagship role in leveraging mobile financial services to provide access to formal financial services to vulnerable segments of the society such as the rural poor, women and Forcibly Displaced Persons (FDPs). As of June 2018, there are more than 800,000 agents, with 6.5 million daily transactions in volume and USD 131 million in…