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Dear members,
As 2019 comes to an end, the RFILC editorial team would like to thank all of you for your continuous patronage all these years.
Our December issue will start by focusing on a paper produced by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP), titled “Use of Financial Diaries to Understand Smallholder Investment Finance.” The paper evaluates the relative importance of different sources of finance for agricultural and non-agricultural investments, using the unique dataset called the “Smallholder Financial Diaries” collected by CGAP in Mozambique, Pakistan, and Tanzania at the individual and household level. This paper finds that self-finance, rather than formal or informal finance from external providers, is the main financing source for long-term and short-term smallholder agricultural investments. Further, the paper finds that the main source of self-finance varies depending on the economic opportunities had by smallholders, with non-agricultural income as the dominant financing source for some, while agricultural income being most prominent for others. These findings imply that financial inclusion policies specifically targeting smallholders and the agricultural sector would benefit from enabling the development of an ecosystem of diverse financial services that respond simultaneously to needs related to both agriculture and non-agriculture. This paper provides an important addition to the existing knowledge base on how smallholder households finance their agricultural investments. Moreover, it develops a new methodology for analysis and applies it to a unique and extremely valid dataset.
In a similar vein, a Toolkit has been developed by the African Development Bank and Making Finance Work for Africa Partnership specifically for African governments, to assess the viability for the global diaspora to invest financially back home, as well as determine the best approach for attracting such type of investment. The Toolkit provides a systematic guide for governments, where the findings and recommendations form the basis for robust diaspora investment strategies and shed light on what development finance institutions- as well as multilateral and bi-lateral agencies- can do to support them. It provides a comprehensive and systematic approach to data collection – ensuring relevant stakeholder engagement and information provision. It also serves as an overview of the main investment channels currently available for raising diaspora investment, with an indication of their respective opportunities, costs and benefits. The Toolkit provides an Assessment Template for analyzing the data and reviewing which investment vehicles may be of most interest. Furthermore, it provides tools to assess how the scale of cross-border digital payments is changing the remittances landscape, reducing the costs and timeframes for the stakeholders involved, while providing an opportunity for diaspora actors overseas to manage their investments remotely.
Lastly, from 24 to 26 June 2020, the Global Forum on Remittances, Investment and Development (GFRID), organized in Nairobi by IFAD in collaboration with the African Union and the World Bank Group, will examine the opportunities and challenges in the African remittance market, and the impact these flows can have on the sustainable development of migrants’ communities of origin. The GFRID will also explore how innovation and technology in the market can lower remittances’ transfer costs and promote greater financial inclusion, thereby advancing the implementation of Objective 20 of the newly adopted Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration and, more broadly, the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.
With best regards,
The RFILC Editorial Team

- Global Forum on Remittances, Investment and Development – Africa 2020
- Sanabel’s 2020 Conference: Client Centricity; The Road to Greater Financial Inclusion
- 16th Annual Global Microfinance Forum
- Microfinance Summit – Empower Tech Innovations & Mobile Digital Channels
- Sixth annual EU conference on EAFRD financial instruments for agriculture and rural development in 2014-2020
- First Conference on Financial Stability and Sustainability


- Use of financial diaries to understand smallholder investment finance – a cross country analysis in Mozambique, Tanzania and Pakistan
- INSURED – Insurance for rural resilience and economic development
- Guidebook for mobilizing inclusive remittances for rural investment
- Together We Deliver: Grants for a Brighter Future
- Digital Financial Services in Nigeria: State of the Market Report 2019
- Competition and Digital Financial Services
- Cyber Security in Financial Sector Development: Challenges and Potential Solutions for Financial Inclusion
- Fair Play: Ensuring Competition in Digital Financial Services
- A Tale of Two Sisters: Microfinance Institutions and PAYGo Solar
- Digital Transformation of Microfinance and Digitization of Microfinance Services to Deepen Financial Inclusion in Africa
- IFAD Country Strategy Report and Programme Evaluation, Republic of Sierra Leone
- The Toolkit for Understanding Diaspora Investment
- The Impact of Remittances on Economic Activity: The Importance of Sectoral Linkages
- Nonbank E-Money Issuers vs. Payments Banks: How Do They Compare?
- Fair Play: Ensuring Competition in Digital Financial Services
- Technical Note: Is Data Privacy Good for Business?
- Growing Digital Financial Inclusion in Benin
- Growing Digital Financial Inclusion in Zambia
- Growing Digital Financial Inclusion in Senegal
- The Fintech Landscape in Rwanda

- Nigeria’s First Digital Economy Diagnostic Reveals a Vibrant Entrepreneurial Ecosystem but Rural Areas are still without Internet Access|
- Mobilizing inclusive remittances for rural development
- E-Commerce Can Boost Job Creation and Inclusive Growth in Developing Countries
- Kenya Economic Update: Accelerating Kenya’s Digital Economy
- Rural finance in Sierra Leone strengthened by IFAD projects – new report
- Sierra Leone and IFAD to strengthen partnerships, agricultural value chains and rural finance
- Kenya: No More Lending Controls in Kenya As Rate Cap ‘Dies’
- New microenterprise project to make farming profitable for half a million Bangladeshi families
- Boosting incomes and protecting the environment – IFAD and Government of Peru assess achievements of joint project