Publication database

The significance of strengthening economic growth and sustainable development through financial inclusion is critical for the Asia-Pacific region. Harnessing the advent of digital technology to enable financial inclusion is one of the most promising opportunities to bring millions of unserved and underserved people across the region into the formal financial sector. This is especially true for people who are living at the base of the economic pyramid (BoEP) and for women, who are disproportionately marginalized.

However, while the promise of digital finance is appealing, the introduction of digital services does not solve many of the root causes of financial exclusion and also creates new challenges for those at the BoEP. This policy guidebook aims to support the region’s policy makers and regulators to capitalize on the opportunity to harness digital technology as an effective means to advance financial inclusion and enhance the wellbeing of those at the BoEP, including women.

The idea of Inclusive Business is taking Africa by storm. The timely publication of a new concise book 'Inclusive business in Africa': A business model aims to take readers on a journey into the subject of Inclusive Business in Africa and shows how companies can be agents of change, contributing to inclusive development and growth. The publication brings together research supported by the Partnerships Resource Centre (PrC), a specialist research centre at Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM) and RSM’s Professor Rob van Tulder. 

This publication documents the success stories of the ASEAN Inclusive Business Awards finalists and nominees from various sectors across the region. It aims to inspire companies to embrace change and innovation in their corporate culture. The case studies presented can serve as a guide for other emerging inclusive businesses.

CGAP set out to examine pathways to inclusive payment ecosystems in two Sub-Saharan African countries, Tanzania and Ghana, to learn from their experiences. While this analysis could have highlighted the experiences of any number of countries that have succeeded in developing inclusive payment ecosystems, the Tanzanian and Ghanaian experiences hold unique and complementary lessons.

Developing solutions that address ill health can be a triple win for clients, society and financial service providers. Keeping clients and their families healthy makes business sense, but while there is great demand for such solutions, only a few providers have focussed on tackling health challenges. Our latest paper includes case studies and outlines the scope for financial service providers to develop holistic health solutions.

Insurance supervisors in emerging markets have developed different approaches to foster markets for inclusive insurance. Several markets have undergone transformative changes as a result, but what has been the impact of these measures? The Access to Insurance Initiative (A2ii) and the Facility have commissioned this study to assess the impact of microinsurance regulatory frameworks on developing inclusive insurance markets by way of a Regulatory Impact Assessment. 

The paper discusses agricultural insurance subsidy in detail and draws upon available literature and case study experiences to propose good practice guidelines for the design and implementation.

Bundling agriculture insurance with other services like credit and better farm inputs is fast emerging as a possible solution to help agriculture insurance to achieve better social outcomes, make insurance more tangible and enable schemes to scale faster. There is evidence that states that access to agricultural insurance leads to significantly larger agricultural investment and riskier, yet more rewarding, production choices in agriculture. However, insurance as a standalone product may not be sufficient to overcome the binding constraints of farmers. Hence, bundling provides more value for all the players in the value chain. 

This paper examines the successes, challenges and modalities of the provision of financial services by trade unions. It is structured in two parts. The first examines the existing literature on the financial service experiences of unions through various institutional arrangements. The second part is a broad view of union-led financial service provision based on a survey of 166 unions representing 441.6 million workers worldwide, along with eight case studies that serve to illustrate the contextual factors influencing financial service provision by trade unions. The findings demonstrate that trade unions offer a range of financial services including loans, savings, insurance and retirement schemes through diverse modes of implementation. Mutuals and cooperative structures are popular models for union-led financial service provision. Others have sought for more knowledge and capital-intensive institutional models, such as setting up brokerage agencies or establishing banks.

With 1.5 billion people worldwide getting access to financial services through a post office, postal networks are powerful tools to advance financial inclusion. Posts possess or can develop characteristics such as client understanding, product diversification, national outreach, rural advantage, and trust with clients that have the potential to transform postal networks into well-suited providers of insurance. Insurance is a relatively easy way for posts to diversify their sources of revenue.