Dear RFILC members,

We continually strive to provide and deliver you quality resources in rural and agricultural finance, and it will continue to be our priority moving forward. We would like to start the 2019 RFILC newsletter with an exciting report from the Microinsurance Network titled “The State of MicroInsurance 2018: Inclusive insurance for a sustainable future”. This annual report showcases ground-breaking initiatives from around the world which are already helping to eliminate poverty and hunger, achieve good health and well-being, promote gender equality, provide decent work and economic growth, and take action on climate change. The report suggests inclusive insurance is playing a significant part in achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and that millions of consumers in emerging markets are already benefiting from insurance products and services which build resilience and help manage risk. This report also provides insurance industry, experts and practitioners operating in the inclusive insurance space with key insights on the latest developments in the sector.

The second highlight of this month is a guide from the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) titled “Guide to Supervising E-Money Issuers”. Although, a specialized regulatory framework for e-money issuers (EMIs) has been recognized as a key enabler for inclusive digital financial services, regulation alone is not enough. It needs to be complemented by an efficient and effective supervisory regime to enforce compliance. Comprehensive, risk-based supervision helps emerging markets and developing economies (EMDE) keep e-money markets safe while advancing financial inclusion. This paper focuses on protection of customer funds and addresses operational risk, money laundering and financing of terrorism risk, and EMI business plans and offsite monitoring. This guide draws on the authors’ own experiences, interviews with EMI supervisors, and available literature to provide guidance to EMDE supervisors who wish to design a proportional approach to EMI supervision.

Finally, we would like to inform you that the 2nd Spanish Edition of the Boulder Rural and Agricultural Finance Program (RAFP) will take place in Merida, Mexico from March 18th to March 29th, 2019. This program created with FAO and CABFIN, a collaborative workgroup including IFAD, FAO, GIZ, UNCDF, WFP and the World Bank, is a highly specialized program offered for experienced rural and agricultural finance practitioners and institutions. The two weeks immersion program will be offered in Spanish with a total of 70 academic course hours delivered by Boulder Faculty. This diverse group of world-renowned agrifinance experts will cover a broad range of topics and viewpoints on how to efficiently reach financial inclusion for smallholder farmers. The rationale of the program is to create a forum for participants to deeply reflect on their specific challenges, where they can share ideas and strategies on how to face the agricultural finance sector’s pressing issues, using new tools and a fresh perspective.

With best regards,
The RFILC editorial team