Scaling Up Access to Finance in Kigoma, Tanzania

Under its global strategy of Leaving No One Behind in the Digital Era, the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) promotes digital financial services (DFS) as foundational to inclusive social and economic development. In Tanzania, UNCDF’s work under the Kigoma Joint Programme (KJP) highlights the evolution from financial inclusion to inclusive digital economies. KJP interventions provide access to informal financial services through the formation and strengthening of savings groups, along with financial and digital education to build savings group members’ capacity to effectively use those services to increase income and financial health. This publication describes UNCDF’s contribution to the KJP in detail and presents over five years of lessons learned in building financial and capability and introducing agricultural technology interventions to savings groups.