Author:
ConsumerCentriX Project Team
Date:
September 26th, 2023
Area Covered:
Global
Topics:
Financial Inclusion • Gender Equality • Covid19 • Gender Gap
ConsumerCentriX supported the Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI) in conducting five case studies from AFI’s member countries to understand the nexus of women’s financial inclusion and crisis response under the “Closing the Financial Inclusion Gender Gap During the Crisis and Afterward” project.
The case studies share experiences and lessons that AFI’s member countries learned from their crisis response and recovery policies from the COVID-19 pandemic while focusing on gender-inclusive finance. Evidence from the case studies shows how AFI members protected and promoted women’s financial inclusion and effectively applied it as part of a crisis response during the pandemic. Lessons learnt from AFI members such as Paraguay, Egypt, Fiji, Bangladesh, and Zimbabwe indicate that focusing on gender- inclusive finance helps set the right priorities, mobilise the most impactful stakeholders, identify key operational challenges, and target beneficiaries with a significant multiplier effect. Enabled by the opportunities of digital finance that can be ramped up fast even for developing countries that have seen limited adoption, gender-inclusive finance gets crisis relief and stimulus to where it is needed most and ensures economic life can continue.
Learn more from CCX-supported case studies published for the project:
FIJI CASE STUDY
As an island nation in the Pacific Ocean, Fiji saw strong disruptions to its key economic activities caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, which disrupted travel for tourism and overseas work. Together with the challenges of climate change, Fiji understands it faces a need to revise and diversify its growth strategy for resilience.
© 2023 (May), Alliance for Financial Inclusion. All rights reserved.
BANGLADESH CASE STUDY
From being one of the poorest nations at the time of its independence, Bangladesh has advanced its human and economic development. Being one of the most populous countries, this success and its ability to contain the pandemic’s disruptions matter particularly. Increasing women’s financial inclusion can be the key to unlocking better performance.
© 2023 (March), Alliance for Financial Inclusion. All rights reserved.
EGYPT CASE STUDY
Strongly affected by the COVID-19 Pandemic, Egypt has been able to implement economic recovery measures, ease restrictions, and rebound in important economic sectors, such as agriculture, tourism, manufacturing, and communications.
© 2023 (June), Alliance for Financial Inclusion. All rights reserved.
PARAGUAY CASE STUDY
The World Bank considered it as one of the South American countries best positioned to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of fiscal and monetary policy thanks to its stable and disciplined macroeconomic policies with low internal and external debt and low inflation. However, as a key agricultural exporter, the country remains vulnerable to international price volatility and climate change-related challenges.
© 2023 (March), Alliance for Financial Inclusion. All rights reserved.
ZIMBABWE CASE STUDY
A landlocked country rich in natural resources which support both agriculture and tourism, Zimbabwe is progressively working towards securing a stable investment climate.
© 2023 (April), Alliance for Financial Inclusion. All rights reserved.