Global Envision: Financial Inclusion

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Financial Inclusion

Public funding for financial inclusion increases, despite tight government budgets

Despite tough economic times, governments are increasing support to extend financial services to the world’s 2.5 billion ‘bankless’ adults.

Financial Inclusion

Why financial inclusion matters

“Financial inclusion” might sound like a ploy by banks and credit card companies to get more clients. But it's actually a vital effort to improve the lives of poor people.

Financial Inclusion

This is what financial inclusion looks like: CGAP announces photo contest winners

A man stacks bricks on his head to carry. Another sells newspapers. Three women carry fishing nets across golden sand dunes. These images, among the winners of CGAP’s annual photo contest, portray workers at the bottom of the economic pyramid around the world.

Financial Inclusion

Quotable: The Internet’s transformative potential in Africa

A new report from the McKinsey Global Institute highlights the economic power of the Internet in Africa.

Financial Inclusion

Interview: How M-Pesa innovates new business models for its base of the pyramid customers

M-Pesa is one of the biggest success stories in the history of serving customers at the bottom of the pyramid. We talk with the head of strategy for financial services about how the company learns about their poorest customers, develops products that meet their needs, and educates about how to use them.

Mobile Technology

Quotable: India's race to emerge as the mobile money leader

India is probably the most exciting market for mobile money in the world. When India takes off, it will eclipse anything we’ve done in Kenya.

Value Chains

Quotable: 20 years ago, fighting poverty felt futile. Not so today.

"Twenty years ago we spoke about the poor with a sense of futility, and I think now when you talk about the base of the pyramid, more often than not you're talking about markets and opportunities."

Value Chains

5 ways to support farming irrigation in sub-saharan Africa: Beyond technology

Big government-funded irrigation projects in Sub-Saharan Africa are often expensive and inaccessible, so farmers are taking matters into their own hands.

Financial Inclusion

Faith and Finance: The director of "Kompanion Invest" discusses the challenges of mixing business and religion

In Kyrgyzstan, over 85 percent of citizens are followers of Islam, and many seek to run Halal businesses. So offering Shari’a compliant financial services just makes sense. Easier said than done. Read this frank Q&A with the country's only Islamic microfinance institution.