Blog

Building An Enabling and Protective Policy Environment

Timothy Lyman — Fri, 24 May 2013 14:56:23 -0400

After extensive external and internal consultations, the CGAP Board (ExCom) approved the next five-year strategic direction for CGAP at its annual meeting in Amsterdam. The strategic direction lays out five priority themes, desired outcomes, and activities against each priority. We're highlighting these themes in a special blog series.

Consumer Lending and Financial Inclusion in Latin America

Xavier Faz, Rafe Mazer, Rudy Araujo , Sergio Navajas — Thu, 23 May 2013 02:10:05 -0400

The economic success of many Latin American countries and the rise out of poverty of millions of households in recent years has led to a strong growth in consumer lending in low and middle-class segments. This is a development we have highlighted previously on this blog as a trend worth monitoring.

The Future of Provider Ecosystems for Financial Inclusion

Kabir Kumar, Stephen Rasmussen — Wed, 22 May 2013 12:33:18 -0400

Financial Innovation for Smallholders: A New Priority for CGAP

Michael Tarazi — Mon, 20 May 2013 14:07:46 -0400

Islamic Microfinance in Pakistan: The Experience so Far

Khadija Ali — Fri, 17 May 2013 11:11:13 -0400

While Islamic microfinance’s reach has increased considerably over the past few years, provision of Sharia-compliant products is still in its early stage, in Pakistan and globally. According to Trends in Sharia-Compliant Financial Inclusion, customers using Sharia-compliant products represent less than 1% of total microfinance outreach.

Gabriel Davel Proposes Tests for Credit Bubbles

Elisabeth Rhyne — Thu, 16 May 2013 06:13:27 -0400

Gabriel Davel knows what he’s talking about, and so should you.

Anti-Money Laundering Regulation and Financial Inclusion

Wameek Noor — Wed, 15 May 2013 14:05:53 -0400

Imagine you are a branchless banking provider that is leveraging agents to target the unbanked. As a financial service provider, you are regulated and supervised by the central bank and must comply with national Anti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) regulations.

Access to Insurance Through Regulation and Supervision

Peter van den Broeke — Mon, 13 May 2013 09:06:26 -0400

Adequate regulation and supervision enhance policyholder protection. That is the ultimate objective of insurance supervision and regulation according to the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS). Two features of insurance are important to understand.

Islamic Microfinance in Yemen: Challenges and Opportunities

Ahmed Alathary — Fri, 10 May 2013 07:09:39 -0400

Political upheaval and ongoing violence have hindered development in Yemen, especially since the onset of the Arab Spring in 2010. In an effort to foster hope and stability among Yemen’s poor, who have been disproportionately affected by the country’s turmoil, Al-Amal Microfinance Bank is working to introduce a range of Sharia-compliant microfinance products aimed at reaching the unbanked.

Inclusive Finance and Segmenting Smallholder Farmers

Robert Peck Christen, Jamie Anderson — Thu, 09 May 2013 09:38:05 -0400

An estimated 500 million smallholder farmers live in low- and middle-income countries. Despite some improvements to their access to broad financial services, relatively little progress has been made to advance services that cater specifically to their agricultural activities. These 500 million agricultural families, all engaged in some kind of crop, livestock, and/or fisheries production, are the largest single group, by livelihood, of financially underserved people in the world.