Dear RFILC members,

July is very productive month in the agriculture as it is the harvest month for many commodities, fruits and vegetables. It was very productive month for the RFILC team as well, as we are very keen to present you two recent publications from our partner institutions. First one is a report published by International Fund of Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the European Commission (EC) “A success story on remittances at the post office in Africa”. The report analyses the results achieved by African Postal Financial Services Initiative (APFSI), a joint programme led by IFAD and financed by the European Union (EU). The programme has been implemented in 11 African countries in cooperation with the World Bank, the United Nations Capital Development Fund, the Universal Postal Union and the World Savings and Retail Banking Institute. The APFSI joint programme has helped post offices develop more effective business models, upgrade their computer technology and connectivity, and improve their expertise to process real-time payments and offer and manage financial services.

The second publication is the focus note “Building Inclusive Payment Ecosystems in Tanzania and Ghana” published by the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) that provides an offers insight into how Digital Financial Services (DFS) transformed the financial services ecosystem in Tanzania and Ghana. The frameworks of these two sub-Saharan countries are used as case studies to understand their approach to implementing DFS within their respective economies. The stories are told through the lens of five key components of inclusive payment ecosystems identified by CGAP through research in each country: regulatory approach, executive commitment and investment, competitive landscape, interconnected services, and compelling use cases. The paper concludes with a cross-country comparison that seeks to draw insights from country experiences that may facilitate ongoing attempts to build inclusive payment ecosystems in the rest of Sub-Saharan Africa and in developing markets worldwide.

Finally, Frankfurt School of Finance and Management has designed an exclusive international e-learning course on Digital Finance tailored to practitioners worldwide that will start September 3rd, 2018. The 6-month certification course is adapted to part-time studies on the side of full-time work with flexibility to follow participants own schedule. The program delivers contents that helps understand the emerging digital landscape as well as the new market participants and products that have disrupted the market. By taking the course, participants will be enabled to successfully deploy digital technologies in their institution and leverage digital financial services in their target markets.

With best regards,
The RFILC editorial team