COVID-19 FinDev Weekly Update | 04-10 June 2020

FinDev Gateway has created this COVID-19 weekly update with the latest and most relevant knowledge resources for financial inclusion as they become available. Sign up to receive FinDev's weekly update each Friday with a summary of the main issues covered during the week. 

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Global Summary

• Responding to the need for better data on the impact of COVID-19 on microfinance institutions (MFIs), CGAP has launched the Global Pulse Survey of Microfinance Institutions. The data will help MFIs and the institutions that support them to make informed decisions as they deal with the ongoing crisis. All interested MFIs can participate in the survey at www.atlasdata.org/pulse.
• According to the World Banks’ latest estimate, the global economy is headed for the deepest recession since the Second World War. Countries with large informal sectors suffer heavy toll.
• In a recent blog post, CFI’s Mayada El-Zoghbi argues that individual actions and ready-made market solutions are not the answer to the economic fallout from the pandemic.
• Recent feedback gathered by CGAP shows how COVID-19 has affected agent networks in Africa and Asia, where revenues of providers and agents have declined, mostly as a result of transaction fees being waved at the request of governments.
• IFC has issued guidance for insurance providers on meeting the needs of women during the pandemic; in less than a decade, women will represent a $1.7 trillion opportunity for the insurance industry. In Indonesia, a  technology platform and an insurance provider have partnered to offer health microinsurance to low-income microbusiness owners.

Asia

• Banking agents in India are providing essential access to financial services during COVID-19, but need support to deal with health risks, liquidity and security. Female agents or “bank sakhis,” have been crucial for delivering G2P payments to rural women. 
• Various institutions have announced support for women entrepreneurs in the region, including Grameen Foundation and J.P. Morgan in the Philippines and the IFC in Sri Lanka. Also, the UN ESCAP and Good Return formed a multi-country credit guarantee fund to support women-led SMEs in Cambodia, Nepal, Fiji and Samoa.
• The Monetary Authority of Singapore launched a $1.75 million global fintech challenge seeking solutions that help the financial sector deal with COVID-19 and climate change.
• Indian fintech Paytm, a digital payments giant backed by AliPay and Softbank, is expanding into online micro-lending, while other online lenders face an existential crisis. 
• In Indonesia, COVID-19 restrictions are disrupting the value chains for fast-moving consumer goods. CGAP recommends quick action to inject working capital at the distributor level to keep staples on store shelves.

Africa

Some articles and knowledge resources referenced in this section are in French. 

• According to a World Bank phone survey on businesses in Ethiopia, firms in Addis Ababa have resumed their activities, but 40 percent of them reported no earnings in April. The Mastercard Foundation has launched an emergency program to help micro and small enterprises remain solvent.
• The Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana is advocating for a stimulus package to help smallholder farmers recover. 
• Mobile money usage in Nigeria increased by 15 percent in March, according to the Nigeria Interbank Settlement Scheme.
• A survey by Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics found that 29 percent of households have had to use their savings in response to the economic shocks caused by the pandemic. 
• While much has been said about the impact of COVID-19 on international remittances, the decline of domestic remittances, sent by migrants within countries, will have important implications for rural livelihoods in Sub-Saharan Africa.

For more on Africa, check out the latest Portail FinDev Weekly Update in French.

Latin America and the Caribbean

Most articles and knowledge resources referenced in this section are in Spanish.

• The World Bank has revised downward its forecast for the region’s economy in 2020, predicting a shrinkage of 7.2 percent, compared to the previous estimate of 4.6 percent.
• In Peru, 60 percent of the rural population had no food at some point during the emergency as rural households lost their non-farm income and had to rely exclusively on the food they produced or could exchange with neighbors.   
• In Colombia, digital credit is booming; in May, the volume of digital loans was over 50 percent higher than the volume from the previous two months combined, according to the Colombia Fintech Network.
• In Argentina, the government launched a financial education campaign for older adults in digital finance. The purpose is to discourage in-person banking for those at higher risk during the pandemic. 
• After breaking the record in the previous month, remittances to Mexico plunged 28.5 percent in April due to job losses among migrants in the U.S. as well as restrictions on mobility at the border.

For more on LAC, check out the latest Portal FinDev Weekly Update in Spanish.

Arab World

• Two tools from the Social Performance Task Force (SPTF) are now available in Arabic: the COVID-19 Client Interview Tool to help financial services providers understand their clients’ needs during the pandemic, and the Crisis Checklist based on the Universal Standards for Social Performance Management.
• Vulnerable workers and small scale businesses in Lebanon are facing multiple crises, according to a recent ILO report which provides a set of recommendations to mitigate the employment, livelihoods and business continuity challenges. 
• Findings from the first round of phone interviews conducted by the Tunisian National Institute of Statistics in partnership with the World Bank revealed the negative socio-economic impact of COVID-19 on the poorest 20 percent of Tunisian households, especially those headed by self-employed workers and located in rural areas.

For more on the Arab world and resources in Arabic, check out the latest FinDev Weekly Update in Arabic.