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 article discusses the 2021 edition of the Global Findex, the worldwide measurement of financial inclusion published by the World Bank Group. Specifically, the article highlights two major trends in the data: the growth in digital payments during the COVID-19 pandemic and the relationship between digital payment adoption and the use of other financial services. […]

This half-day workshop brought together key refugee response actors – including digital and financial service providers, policy makers, donors, implementers and humanitarian actors – to encourage stock-taking of the digital savings groups landscape in the Uganda refugee response, and foster critical reflection. The event was organized in April 2022 by UNCDF, the Uganda Inter-Agency Cash […]

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 […]