Diagnose

An independent think tank housed at The World Bank was looking to undertake a country study to explore (a) the impact of DFS on gender, with a particular focus on existing gaps and opportunities in Financial Inclusion for Women; (b) financial inclusion initiatives pursued by the Regulatory and Supply sides with a focus on gender; (c) evidence to suggest impact on job creation and entrepreneurship.

Implement

We designed a methodology that would address the three groups of stakeholders effectively and leverage our local contacts to engage dialogue. The study was divided into:

Desk research (Country Inception Report)

Demand Side Research, Focus Group Discussions: We conducted six focus group discussions with participants from women segments of the population covering various regions in the country.

Expert Interviews: Leveraging our local contacts to engage 12 in-depth interviews with regulatory stakeholders (Central Bank, ARB, Ministries of Finance, Gender and Communications, relevant development agencies and NGOs) and private sector players (mobile money and telecom operators and banks).

Insights

We provided a detailed presentation combining the results attained from our on-the-ground data collection and analysis combined with previous desk research, outlining key insights and analysis. The outputs included:

Inception deck provided a background and understanding of the current initiatives and frameworks, allowing us to identify gaps that we addressed in designing the research tools.

Detailed notes of each focus group and interview, recordings and key insights for the focus groups and expert interviews.

Detailed presentation outlining key insights, thematic areas, demand side illustrative profiles, and actionable recommendations for the Regulatory and Supply sides on how to integrate a gender lens in their operations so as to close (or at least reduce) the gender gap in women’s financial inclusion.