Emerging Trends in Sub-Saharan Africa: Policymakers’ Perspectives

This global research identifies, analyzes, and prioritizes new trends concerning digital financial services, products, and approaches that are aimed specifically at lower-income consumers that have potential impact on financial inclusion in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The primary objective of this research is to flag impactful directions in the policy arena.

More than 20 emerging trends/developments in digital financial inclusion have been identified. The list of trends is based on desk research concerning a comprehensive overview of internal CGAP resources, complemented by analysis of other publications (by the World Bank, GPFI, AFI, FinCoNet, standard-setting bodies, consulting firms, academia, national policymakers), news articles, and informal stakeholder interviews. The decision to include each of the trends in this research was based on the following four criteria: (i) frequency of references, (ii) direct impact on low-income consumers, (iii) direct impact on supervisory capacity, and (iv) relevance to SSA.

Disclaimer

This work was funded in whole or in part by CGAP. Unlike CGAP's official publications, it has not been peer reviewed or edited by CGAP, and any conclusions or viewpoints expressed are those of the authors, and they may or may not reflect the views of CGAP staff.