This article summarizes the findings from the Feed the Future Agricultural Development and Value Chain Enhancement (ADVANCE II) project in Ghana, focusing on the impact of the project on Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs) and women’s empowerment. In partnership with the Mobile Telephone Network (MTN), ADVANCE II registered four VSLAs in Ghana’s northern region […]

This special report, by AFI’s Digital Financial Services Working Group, examines the role of digital financial services (DFS) in enhancing and sustaining the access, use, and overall quality of financial services for women. The report includes a comprehensive analysis of the current body of knowledge and case studies of countries that have accelerated DFS policy […]

This checklist is designed to help implementing organizations gauge their own preparedness to digitize savings groups and to do so in a gender-responsive manner. The checklist will help implementers understand what they need to do to take on the technology, identify required training and support and address gender considerations in digitization projects. These include strategies […]

This tool includes sample job descriptions (JDs) for key digitization project staff with a focus on knowledge, skills and abilities related to mobile and digital technology as well as gender integration. The tool includes both “Roles and Responsibilities” and “Qualifications,” which can be added to existing JDs to ensure they have adequate skills to support […]

This webinar, recorded on June 23, 2022, explored key trends and considerations in the digital savings group (DSG) space and launched the DSG Hub. It also showcased three new resources developed for the DSG community: DSG Glossary: Key Concepts and Terms, DSG Technology Solutions Overview, and DSG Toolkit: Tools to Support Safe and Gender-responsive Digitization […]

In this interview, Paula Rudnicka, the DSG Hub Program Manager and Sr. Technical Advisor for Gender Integration at Global Communities, shares her insights about financial inclusion, digital transformation, and the role of the Hub in promoting smart and gender-responsive digitization of savings groups.

The glossary is a compilation of definitions related to digitization of savings groups, created to help stakeholders working in the DSG sector use the right words and ask the right questions. DSGs lie at the intersection of savings groups, financial inclusion, and technology—each with their own body of knowledge and technical language. The purpose of […]

The DSG Toolkit, also available in Kinyarwanda, consists of seven practical tools to support safe, effective, and gender-responsive digitization of savings groups. These tools include practical guidance for implementers and trainers across multiple aspects of digitization, such as: Each tool can be used by implementers just beginning to think about their first DSG project and […]

This article explores evidence which shows that women are more likely to experience most risks identified in CGAP’s typology of 66 DFS consumer risks than men. CGAP observes that long-standing digital financial service (DFS) risks are not only getting worse, but new risks are emerging every year, and women are more vulnerable to DFS risks than […]

Hey Sister! is an IVR (interactive voice response) digital financial literacy (DFL) campaign designed to increase women’s ability to access and use digital financial services (DFS). The campaign lessons are available online for use and adaptation by anyone, anywhere. Particular resources have been tailored and made available for learning and facilitation in Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, […]