Remittances are an important source of income for households in the Southern African Development Community (SADC), as well as a crucial source of foreign exchange for countries in the region.
... See More + Despite the relatively large inflows of remittances to SADC, the cost of sending money to and within the region is significantly higher than other regions in the world. To address the high cost of remittances globally, the World Bank has been involved in a number of initiatives aimed at improving the efficiency and safety of the market for remittances. At the regional level, the SADC Committee of Central Bank Governors (CCBG) has led several initiatives aimed at enhancing the regional payment system infrastructure, also with a focus on reducing the cost of remittances within the region.
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The objective of Financial Sector Development Project for Ghana is to promote financial sector soundness and access to financial services by individuals.
... See More + The project has four components. (1) Improving financial sector regulatory oversight and market transparency and discipline component will support Bank of Ghana and the Ministry of Finance to improve the oversight of Specialized Deposit‐taking Institutions (SDIs) and promote market transparency and discipline. (2) Increasing the outreach of Rural and Community Banks (RCBs) and Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) and linking Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLAs) to the formal financial sector component will modernize the Management Information Systems (MIS) used by RCBs and MFIs to manage their business operations and to report to regulators; upgrade the e‐banking platform of the Association of Rural Banks (ARB) Apex Bank and developing and rolling out a shared network of bank agents to expand the existing branch network of RCBs; and build the capacity of select VSLAs in support of their outreach and integration into the broader financial sector. (3) Bolstering financial capability and consumer protection component will boost financial capability and consumer protection and contribute to both financial stability and inclusion. (4) Enhancing the capacity for the implementation and monitoring of financial sector policies and supporting project implementation component will support overall project implementation.
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Somalia’s economy grew by 2.3 percent in 2017. The economy remains vulnerable to recurrent shocks. Between 2013 and 2017, real annual GDP growth averaged 2.5 percent.
... See More + Growth occurred despite adverse weather conditions that severely reduced agricultural output in late 2016 and early 2017. For Somalia to enhance and sustain economic growth and escape chronic poverty, it must increase its resilience to shocks. Growth recovery is set to continue beyond 2018, lifted by gains from ongoing reforms as well as improved security. Rising domestic demand, remittances, and donor inflows and consolidation of peace and security are expected to drive growth in 2019–20. Achieving higher growth will require acceleration of structural reforms, particularly in three areas: fiscal policy and public financial management, provision of basic services (to promote human development and inclusion), and improved resilience to weather shocks particularly in the agriculture sector. Mobile money is an essential part of Somalia’s economic ecosystem. Almost three-quarters of the population aged 16 and above use mobile money on a regular basis. It is now the main transaction instrument used by both individuals and businesses across the country: presenting an opportunity to increase access to finance, spur inclusive growth, and promote resilient communities. However, with increasing dependence on mobile money as a medium of exchange comes increased vulnerabilities.
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Working Paper (Numbered Series) 129780 AUG 01, 2018
This note summarizes the work carried out under the Rapid social response (RSR) trust fund which is linked to the Bank activity for Somalia social protection.
... See More + This activity builds on the existing work of development partners and humanitarian organizations in Somalia and tries to inform the development of a social protection policy and framework through analysis and by identifying gaps and entry points. Given Somalia’s unique context, in which the government is in the initial stages of setting up an institutional and regulatory framework and where conflict and climate are constantly affecting socioeconomic dynamics, there was a need to analyze and curate practices that work best and build a common consensus on effective approaches. For this purpose, the work undertaken by the RSR funded activities had a specific focus on targeting and delivery mechanisms adopted by the cash transfer and other safety net schemes including remittances.
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It has been the Israeli government’s explicit goal to position Israel at the core of the knowledge economy. The purpose of this report is to describe the environment for internet entrepreneurship in Israel and analyze how government policies have contributed to the development of a vibrant ecosystem that spurred a high rate of technological innovation and entrepreneurship.
... See More + The objective is to draw conclusions from Israel’s growth experience that can inform developing countries. Chapter 1 starts with the background and sources for the development of the ICT Sector in Israel. As the authors show in chapter 2 and throughout the report, there is broad agreement as to the significant role played by the government in the emergence and development of Israel's vibrant and dynamic high-tech sector, of which the ICT industry is an important part. In chapter 3 the authors do the analysis of the ICT Ecosystem for Entrepreneurship in Israel. In chapter 4 the authors describe in several case studies how start-ups have developed within the ICT ecosystem. Chapter 5 compares Israel with Singapore. The closing chapter deals with lessons that emerging markets and developing countries could employ to develop their own ICT sectors.
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The Afghanistan Pension Administration and Safety project for Afghanistan had a moderately satisfactory outcome, a moderately satisfactory performance by the Bank and the monitoring and evaluation was substantial.
... See More + The lessons learned were: (1) The Government ownership is critical for the success of a project. The implementation of the survivors of martyrs and disabled pension component suffered because of the limited involvement and leadership of the Government in the implementation of the activities to improve the Martyrs and Disabled Pension Program. (2) The participation of women was low in most of the project activities. There is a need to address the bottlenecks that cause low participation of women in various project activities. (3) Third-party implementation arrangement for the safety net component was successful and had bridged the implementation capacity gap that exists at the district and central level of government structures.
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Implementation Completion and Results Report ICR4385 JUN 24, 2018
This concept note describes a financial education radio program that was designed by the World Bank under the Supporting National Payment Systems in Ebola Affected Countries (SNPS) project and aired in Guinea.
... See More + Financial education delivery over radio was selected as it provides the greatest outreach and potential for sustainability. In addition, the Central Bank of Guinea (BCRG) recently developed regulations on mobile money and expressed enthusiastic support for a financial education campaign that would also increase consumer understanding and trust of mobile money services, and interest in using them. The financial education radio program was delivered in 24 segments, including 6 on mobile money. It was designed in collaboration with Social Safety Net (SSN) cash-for-work project in Guinea that targeted 25,000 youth and vulnerable women and focused on providing them with temporary work in sanitation activities. The radio program has been localized and contextualized for Guinea based on a study of the focus group selected from the unbanked and underbanked persons among the SSN project beneficiaries. This concept note contains the profile of the targeted population, key parameters of the program, and details the design concept of the entire program and each segment in particular. Full scripts of the audio segments (sketches) are provided in Volume 2 (French version only).
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The recent Ebola crisis in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea disrupted the economic activity of all three countries and authorities needed to ensure and/or expand the social support programs.
... See More + In all three countries, the level of financial inclusion is low – 15, 19, and 7 percent, respectively. Usage of financial services is also very low. In response to these challenges, the World Bank Group (WBG) launched the project, Supporting National Payment Systems in Ebola Affected Countries (SNPS), to provide technical assistance to current interventions in the Ebola Emergency Response and future initiatives as the countries recover from the crisis. Under the Financial Capability component of the SNPS, the WBG provided targeted technical assistance to social protection programs in the three countries to develop tailored financial education modules for their target populations and strengthen the capacity of their trainers to effectively deliver financial education. This needs assessment report aims to outline the needs specific to each country in terms of enhancing financial inclusion. The report provides a detailed qualitative analysis and makes recommendations for optimal financial education content and delivery mechanisms for each country, allowing for the development of national-scale financial awareness or sensitization campaigns for consumers.
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The recent Ebola crisis in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea disrupted the economic activity of all three countries and authorities needed to ensure and/or expand the social support programs.
... See More + In all three countries, the level of financial inclusion is low – 15, 19, and 7 percent, respectively. Usage of financial services is also very low. In response to these challenges, the World Bank Group (WBG) launched the project, Supporting National Payment Systems in Ebola Affected Countries (SNPS), to provide technical assistance to current interventions in the Ebola Emergency Response and future initiatives as the countries recover from the crisis. Under the Financial Capability component of the SNPS, the WBG provided targeted technical assistance to social protection programs in the three countries to develop tailored financial education modules for their target populations and strengthen the capacity of their trainers to effectively deliver financial education. This needs assessment report aims to outline the needs specific to each country in terms of enhancing financial inclusion. The report provides a detailed qualitative analysis and makes recommendations for optimal financial education content and delivery mechanisms for each country, allowing for the development of national-scale financial awareness or sensitization campaigns for consumers.
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The recent Ebola crisis in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea disrupted the economic activity of all three countries and authorities needed to ensure and/or expand the social support programs.
... See More + In all three countries, the level of financial inclusion is low – 15, 19, and 7 percent, respectively. Usage of financial services is also very low. In response to these challenges, the World Bank Group (WBG) launched the project, Supporting National Payment Systems in Ebola Affected Countries (SNPS), to provide technical assistance to current interventions in the Ebola Emergency Response and future initiatives as the countries recover from the crisis. Under the Financial Capability component of the SNPS, the WBG provided targeted technical assistance to social protection programs in the three countries to develop tailored financial education modules for their target populations and strengthen the capacity of their trainers to effectively deliver financial education. This needs assessment report aims to outline the needs specific to each country in terms of enhancing financial inclusion. The report provides a detailed qualitative analysis and makes recommendations for optimal financial education content and delivery mechanisms for each country, allowing for the development of national-scale financial awareness or sensitization campaigns for consumers.
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This report is based on a study of the costs and savings of retail payments in Albania using a methodology (A Practical Guide for Measuring Retail Payment Costs) developed by the World Bank’s Payment Systems Development Group, part of the Financial Inclusion, Infrastructure, and Access at the Finance, Competitiveness, and Innovation Global Practice.
... See More + By applying this methodology to Albania, the study aims to establish a sound economic baseline for the national retail payments system in terms of costs of different payment instruments to better guide system development and enable high-impact changes. Moreover, the methodology allows for the development of substitution scenarios (from more costly to less costly retail payment instrument) and the resulting cost savings. It is designed based on four main principles: applicability, comparability, efficiency, and standardization and can be adapted to country-specific circumstances without losing its comparative nature, across time and across countries.
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Over the past decade, financial services for the poor have undergone a dramatic transformation. For years, financial institutions like banks and microfinance institutions (MFIs) struggled to sustainably serve the world’s poor.
... See More + But advances in technology have led to innovative business models, and with them, new opportunities for expanding the reach of financial services. At the heart of this financial transformation is the rise of digital payments services through which nearly any individual or business can send or receive money in real time for almost any purpose and from nearly anywhere in the country, an inclusive payment ecosystem. Overall, the main message that emerges from a review of both country experiences is that interoperability is important, but it is best pursued in mature markets. Engagement with industry is important, and regulators should be cautious when mandating interoperability so as not to hinder early investment. Stakeholders need to focus on governance and business rules, as was the case in the year-long negotiations between providers in Tanzania, and not just the technical implementation, which is currently the overwhelming focus in Ghana. As both markets continue to mature, it will be important to monitor the Tanzanian and Ghanaian experiences in the years to come to fully understand the impact of interoperability on DFS.
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This concept note describes a financial education radio program that was designed by the World Bank under the Supporting National Payment Systems in Ebola Affected Countries (SNPS) project and aired in Guinea.
... See More + Financial education delivery over radio was selected as it provides the greatest outreach and potential for sustainability. In addition, the Central Bank of Guinea (BCRG) recently developed regulations on mobile money and expressed enthusiastic support for a financial education campaign that would also increase consumer understanding and trust of mobile money services, and interest in using them. The financial education radio program was delivered in 24 segments, including 6 on mobile money. It was designed in collaboration with Social Safety Net (SSN) cash-for-work project in Guinea that targeted 25,000 youth and vulnerable women and focused on providing them with temporary work in sanitation activities. The radio program has been localized and contextualized for Guinea based on a study of the focus group selected from the unbanked and underbanked persons among the SSN project beneficiaries. This concept note contains the profile of the targeted population, key parameters of the program, and details the design concept of the entire program and each segment in particular. Full scripts of the audio segments (sketches) are provided in Volume 2 (French version only).
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This concept note describes a financial education radio program that was designed by the World Bank under the Supporting National Payment Systems in Ebola Affected Countries (SNPS) project and delivered in Sierra Leone.
... See More + Financial education delivery over radio was selected as it provides the greatest outreach and potential for sustainability. The financial education radio program was delivered in 24 segments, including 6 on mobile money. It was designed in collaboration with Productive Social Safety Nets (PSSN) unconditional cash transfer project in Sierra Leone that targeted 12,000 extremely poor households in four districts and focused on maternal and child health and child education. The radio program has been localized and contextualized for Sierra Leone based on a study of the focus group selected from the unbanked and underbanked persons among the PSSN project beneficiaries. This concept note contains the profile of the targeted population, key parameters of the program, and details the design concept of the entire program and each segment in particular. Full scripts of the audio segments (sketches) are provided in Volume 2.
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This concept note describes a financial education radio program that was designed by the World Bank under the Supporting National Payment Systems in Ebola Affected Countries (SNPS) project and aired in Liberia.
... See More + Financial education delivery over radio was selected as it provides the greatest outreach and potential for sustainability. The financial education radio program is structured in 24 segments, including 6 on mobile money. It was designed in collaboration with the three social cash transfer projects in Liberia (SSN, Rural YOP, Urban YOP) that targeted over 25,000 people in the most vulnerable segments of the population. The radio program has been localized and contextualized for Liberia based on a study of the focus groups selected from the unbanked and underbanked persons among the project beneficiaries. This concept note contains the profile of the targeted population, key parameters of the program, and details the design concept of the entire program and each segment in particular. Full scripts of the audio segments (sketches) are provided in Volume 2.
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This concept note describes a financial education radio program that was designed by the World Bank under the Supporting National Payment Systems in Ebola Affected Countries (SNPS) project and aired in Liberia.
... See More + Financial education delivery over radio was selected as it provides the greatest outreach and potential for sustainability. The financial education radio program is structured in 24 segments, including 6 on mobile money. It was designed in collaboration with the three social cash transfer projects in Liberia (SSN, Rural YOP, Urban YOP) that targeted over 25,000 people in the most vulnerable segments of the population. The radio program has been localized and contextualized for Liberia based on a study of the focus groups selected from the unbanked and underbanked persons among the project beneficiaries. This concept note contains the profile of the targeted population, key parameters of the program, and details the design concept of the entire program and each segment in particular. Full scripts of the audio segments (sketches) are provided in Volume 2.
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This concept note describes a financial education radio program that was designed by the World Bank under the Supporting National Payment Systems in Ebola Affected Countries (SNPS) project and delivered in Sierra Leone.
... See More + Financial education delivery over radio was selected as it provides the greatest outreach and potential for sustainability. The financial education radio program was delivered in 24 segments, including 6 on mobile money. It was designed in collaboration with Productive Social Safety Nets (PSSN) unconditional cash transfer project in Sierra Leone that targeted 12,000 extremely poor households in four districts and focused on maternal and child health and child education. The radio program has been localized and contextualized for Sierra Leone based on a study of the focus group selected from the unbanked and underbanked persons among the PSSN project beneficiaries. This concept note contains the profile of the targeted population, key parameters of the program, and details the design concept of the entire program and each segment in particular. Full scripts of the audio segments (sketches) are provided in Volume 2.
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