The inclusion of the poorest people in the world – the bottom billion – in formal and informal financial systems remains an elusive goal for governments and institutions around the world. While the “tools” of the economic development sector (microfinance, value chain development, market facilitation, enterprise development, savings groups, etc.) are successfully reaching poor households and are believed … Read More >
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The SEEP Network Blog
Day One in Arusha: Savings groups and poverty downreach >
The road to Arusha, Tanzania. | Image by Kat Stan
In the afternoon of the first day of the Arusha Savings Groups Summit, I participated in a small group discussion about the poverty levels that savings groups are best suited to, and the levels that savings groups reach among their members. As facilitator of SEEP’s … Read More >
Day One in Arusha: Should financial services be consolidated? >
Image by Community Friend
This is the question I posed to you in the blog world at the end of my last post. When I asked this during a small group discussion at the Arusha Savings Groups Summit, the response was a slight pause, a discussion leader saying “Yes, I think we do quite incorrectly … Read More >
Day One in Arusha: Common threads in financial services >
Image by Google Maps
The first thing I wrote down at the Arusha Savings Groups Summit was this: “Financial inclusion can occur without financial institutions.”
Throughout the day I got the impression that this quote was not new to many, and that it can be interpreted in several ways, depending on what you consider “inclusion” and whether … Read More >
