eC2: Supporting Women Entrepreneurs in Nigeria: Access to Finance & Markets Diagnostic

Deadline: 21-Jan-2019 at 11:59:59 PM (Eastern Time – Washington D.C.)

The World Bank will employ the services of a specialized firm to conduct a diagnostic which shall help inform the design of interventions to support women-led SMEs (WSMEs) in Nigeria in accessing finance and markets. Specifically, this assignment includes:

i) Mapping: Gather evidence on target beneficiaries (women entrepreneurs with high growth potential) to develop a diagnostic tool and provide the basis for design of tailored capacity building. This will include a creation of a taxonomy for various types of WSMEs, a targeted database of WSMEs and data collection (targeted survey, focus groups, etc.) to help understand WSMEs’ capacity building needs;

ii) Ecosystem Diagnostic: The ecosystem diagnostic will identify and understand the perspective of the various stakeholders affecting the ability of women entrepreneurs to start and grow a business (investors, customer base, competitors, business associations, business development service providers, government agencies, etc.). Focus groups and interviews will help understand the gap, market and institutional, between what is available and what is required for WSMEs to access finance and take advantage of market opportunities;

iii) Market assessment: Mapping of bank and non-bank providers, products, and regulatory barriers, including for Fintech adoption, to inform design of FinTech solutions/movable asset-based lending, and/or savings products tailored to WSMEs’ needs.

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Achieving Financial Inclusion: Fintech, account usage, and innovation

Submitted by H.M. Queen Maxima of The Netherlands on June 14, 2018

For almost a decade, the global community and national governments have made concerted efforts to expand financial inclusion—creating a financial system that works for all and opens the doors to greater stability and equitable progress.

madagascar_0This has been a demanding challenge. At the start of our engagement on financial access back in 2013, we said that having a real target with an end date would keep us focused and give us a benchmark against which we could measure progress.

Last month we learned that we have made strong and consistent progress—a real cause for celebration. According to the Global Findex database, more than half a billion people gained a financial transaction account over the last three years, thanks to a combination of technology, private investment, policy reforms, and support from the global community. Since 2011, the share of adults with formal accounts has risen from 51 percent to 69 percent, and financial access has expanded to include an additional 1.2 billion people.

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eC2: Market Research for Digital Financial Services in Cameroon

Deadline: 04-Jul-2017 at 11:59:59 PM (Eastern Time – Washington D.C.)

Under The Partnership for Financial Inclusion, IFC is assisting a mobile networkIFC and the Dutch operator (MNO) in Cameroon to expand their existing customer segment to new clients and markets. IFC is supporting the MNOs plans to implement an expansion and financial inclusion strategy with research to identify opportunities in the market that will help the MNO develop the best products to service its customer base. IFC is looking for a market research firm (Consultants) for this research assignment on mobile money and access to finance in Cameroon. Consultants will be hired to conduct desk research, data collection and analysis on customer needs and preferences for financial services and the extent to which these needs may be met through mobile money. The market research will also involve a competitor analysis, agent profiling, customer segmentation, and product assessment. The goal is to identify and quantify the potential customer base in the Cameroonian market.

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eC2: CGAP Financial Inclusion Data Infrastructure

Deadline: 28-Dec-2016 at 11:59:59 PM (Eastern Time – Washington D.C.)

CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor) is an independent policy and research center world money smalldedicated to advancing financial inclusion for the world’s poor. It is supported by over 30 development agencies and private foundations who share a common mission to alleviate poverty. Housed at the World Bank, CGAP provides market intelligence, promotes standards, develops innovative solutions and offers advisory services to governments, microfinance providers, donors, and investors.

The high level objectives of this project are:
Improve publically-available data to serve the financial inclusion industry
Empower decision makers (financial service providers, funders/investors, and government officials) to build an inclusive financial services ecosystem through data, analytics, and insight.

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Private Sector Development: Rabobank Foundation

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Rabobank Foundation and the World Bank team up to strengthen financial rabobank-blogcooperatives for agrifinance.

The World Bank and Rabobank Foundation are teaming up to strengthen financial cooperatives in rural areas to improve financial services for smallholder farmers and agricultural SMEs.

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