Rural Finance and Investment Insights: November 2020

Note from the editor

Together with the recent rapid development of the digital information technology, exacerbated by the “new normal” after the COVID-19 pandemic, digital financial services (DFS) are becoming the driving factor for developing countries and emerging market to enhance financial inclusion.
This was the focus of the high-level Virtual Symposium on “Development of Inclusive Rural Digital Finance Services: China’s Experience and International Organization’s Practices” that was held during 10-12 November, organised by the FAO in collaboration with the Chinese Academy of Financial Inclusion (CAFI), in the framework of the CABFIN partnership.
The event brought together more than 30 speakers from China, Uganda, Kenya and international organizations to shared their experiences, discuss challenges and opportunities for developing rural DFS . You can view the presentations and recording here. During this special event, the Chinese version of RFILC was officially launched, which further promotes knowledge sharing among China, international institutions and developing countries in rural finance and investment.

Examining the climate finance gap for small-scale agriculture

In a rapidly changing world, agriculture remains the heart of sustainable development.This report shows that only a small percentage of the money invested globally in climate finance is targeted at small-scale agriculture producers.

Bridging the financing gap for agriculture cooperatives through data-driven decision-making in Senegal

The lack of high-quality information, information asymmetry between clients and FSPs, and inefficient industry-level coordination are key factors that drive up costs for both clients and FSPs. Data-driven decision-making reveals new dimensions of information that could reduce the risk of lending.

BIG DATA AND AUTOMATED CREDIT SCORING IN RURAL FINANCE: THE CASE OF MYBANK

The experience of MYBank, a fully digital bank, shows how the rising levels of digital penetration in China’s rural areas, the leveraging of “big data”, and the automation of the credit approval and provision processes, have made it possible to overcome several of the traditional barriers to financing rural enterprises.

Microfinance and the Poor in Times of Crisis

Learn from leaders in the MFI sector on how they are working to support poor people severely hit by the twin crises of a global health pandemic and economic downturn, and what strategies are MFIs deploying to help their customers in face of business shutdowns and lost income?

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Financial Inclusion for Refugees in Uganda