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Dear RFILC members,
Our November’s issue is dedicated to the topic of digital financial services. The first highlight is the handbook titled “Digital Financial Services for Agriculture”, developed by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Mastercard Foundation. Financial inclusion is one of Africa’s great success stories of the past decade: just over 43 percent of adults on the continent today have access to formal financial services, compared to the 23 percent registered in 2011. This is primarily due to the introduction of digital financial services and their contribution to the creation of a market for affordable, accessible and sustainable financial services, specifically for those actors who were previously excluded from accessing traditional banking services. IFC and the Mastercard Foundation have worked with 14 financial services providers across the continent, leverage new technologies to build and test innovative business models for financial inclusion. This report captures the ongoing transformation of the financial sector in Africa, sharing the most important lessons learned and casting an eye towards the future of financial inclusion in the region.
The second highlight is a report by the Accion Venture Lab and the Mastercard foundation, titled “The Tech Touch Balance: How the Best Fintech Startups Integrate Digital and Human Interaction to Accelerate Financial Inclusion”. Even where customers in emerging markets have overcome some of the barriers that limit the use of digital technologies — and have access to affordable handsets, reliable internet connectivity, and stable power — many among them still look for human interaction when accessing digital financial services. Reasons for this include a limited comfort and familiarity with digital technologies; a limited understanding of financial products; a general lack of trust in financial service providers; and a limited awareness of startup brands engaged in the fintech domain. This can leave fintech startups caught between having to choose whether to adopt these highly efficient technologies, or respond to the clients’ preferences for high-cost human interaction. The report explains why both “tech” and “touch” matter for fintechstartups. It also presents case studies of businesses that have successfully found this balance,while offering a way forward to follow for those financial service providers that are seeking to achieve the same. The report also provides valuable insights into the future direction of “tech” and “touch”, as well as guidance on where startups should begin in designing their own customer experience.
Finally, the Agriculture Value Chain for Microfinance and SME Practitioners intensive training programme hosted by the Microfinance Association, will take place in Nairobi, Kenya from 4th to 6th December 2018. This course provides a thorough understanding of the gaps and challenges of agriculture finance, enabling participants to sharpen their awareness of the fundamental issues associated to providing capital to agribusinesses and agri-SMEs. The program presents a range of different business models and risk management tools that have succesfully adopted innovative methodologies and systems for agri-financing, illustrating their functioning through a series of related successful case studies.
With best regards,
The RFILC Editorial Team


- Financial Linkages and Savings Groups Digitization
- Market Systems Approach to Pro Poor Growth to Enterprise and Agricultural Development Course
- Financial Inclusion Programming in Humanitarian Context
- Financial Inclusion: Implications & Lessons Learnt for Regulators & Policy Makers
- Performance Evaluation of Microfinance Institutions in Asia
- HBS-Accion Program on Strategic Leadership in Inclusive Finance
- School of African Microfinance (SAM) 2019 Training Program

- Digital Financial Services for Agriculture: Handbook
- Exploring the Spatial Data Landscape and Options for Sustainable Data Collection
- Inclusive Finance: Looking to the Future. A Perspective from Luxembourg
- The Tech Touch Balance: How the Best Fintech Startups Integrate Digital and Human Interaction to Accelerate Financial Inclusion
- A New Kind of Conglomerate: Bigtech in China
- Global Microscope 2018: The Enabling Environment for Financial Inclusion and the Expansion of Digital Financial Services
- Mobile Money in Somalia – Household Survey and Market Analysis
- I-SIP Toolkit: Policy Making for an Inclusive Financial System
- Taming the Strange Beasts: Servicing and the Future of PAYGo
- Blended Finance 2.0 – Giving Voice to the Private Sector

- SANAD Calls for Substantial Investment in Agriculture and Fintech in MENA Region
- Cambodia: Prasac Microfinance Institution to Receive $40 Million Loan
- Uzbekistan: IFC Invests in Ipak Yuli Bank to Expand Access to Finance for Micro and Small Entrepreneurs
- Jordan: The EIB Reinforces Its Partnership With Microfund for Women to Improve Women’s Access to Finance
- Pondering Progress: Three Market Developments Helping to Accelerate Women’s Financial Inclusion
- IFC Backs Moroccan Bank to Boost Financial Inclusion
- Mastercard and Accion Partner to Unlock Growth for Millions of Underserved Microbusinesses Around the World