Accion

Sita Devi used to walk several miles and cross a river to reach the nearest bank branch to her village in Bihar, India. Domestic responsibilities and long hours of inconvenient travel often discourage rural women like Sita from actively using financial services. Adopting digital channels can enable these rural women entrepreneurs to access critical financial services that can help them invest in their small businesses and supplement their household income. Read how Sita Devi and others in her village are embracing digital channels to access financial services and grow their small businesses:

Thank you to all of the speakers and attendees who joined us yesterday in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to attend Accion Advisory's convening of local, regional, and international stakeholders dedicated to inclusive finance. We heard thought-provoking insights and discussions about how we can accelerate and scale opportunities for underserved people in Africa and beyond, such as rural women, smallholder farmers, refugees, and microentrepreneurs. A diverse group of funders, policymakers, digital platform providers, and financial services industry leaders joined us, including Mastercard Foundation, Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, Opportunity International, Kifiya Financial Technology PLC, Dashen Bank, UGAFODE Microfinance Limited (MDI), Soko Uganda, Elebat Management and Technology Solutions, Kazana Group, Unilever, United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), Mercy Corps, PULA, and more.   Raliat Sunmonu Kwashie Agbitor Melssaw Gessesse Martin Tirigo Victoria White Niranthi Nanayakkara Ascar Sudi Charlene Navarra Karthik Venkataraman Nataša Goronja Elizabeth Winters

"We live and breathe every day and interact with, to a large extent, small businesses, women, young people, the forcibly displaced — the most vulnerable in our societies. The question is, what's working? What's not working? How do we bring new ideas and not replicate things that have been tested but not worked, but that we're finding new ideas that are working in a way that makes sense for all these different customers? I know that's why we're here today, and that's certainly why Accion exists." Our Raliat Sunmonu at Accion Advisory's convening of local partners and industry leaders today in Ethiopia.

To accelerate opportunities for the most underserved people, such as rural women, smallholder farmers, and microentrepreneurs, we need effective partnerships and collaborations that meet their unique needs.   Today in Addis Ababa, Accion Advisory will convene our local partners and industry leaders in East Africa to share insights and explore opportunities to work together to reach women entrepreneurs, refugees, and other vulnerable communities.   Learn more about our work to create solutions for refugees in East Africa: https://lnkd.in/eT__2Tbw Raliat Sunmonu Kwashie Agbitor Melssaw Gessesse Martin Tirigo Victoria White Niranthi Nanayakkara Ascar Sudi Charlene Navarra Karthik Venkataraman

We are thrilled to announce Accion Venture Lab’s new investment in Finfra to meet the growing credit needs of underserved businesses and foster broader financial access in Indonesia. “By building the lending backbone for digital platforms in sectors like e-commerce, agritech, and logistics, Finfra enables platforms to offer more accessible and sustainable credit solutions to their users. With lower servicing costs and stronger governance, lenders can design new products to profitably and responsibly serve customers who are currently excluded from the financial system.” Said Rahil Rangwala, Managing Partner at Accion Venture Lab. Read more:

How can financial service providers design and implement agile, consumer-centric credit products? Accion’s Jonathan Blanco Mahecha speaks with Frubana’s Juan Pablo García to share their experiences in this #FIW24 on-demand session: https://lnkd.in/eQHzbwBU #FinclusionWeek Center for Financial Inclusion (CFI)

At Economist Impact's Sustainability Week Africa, global leaders are discussing the next steps to accelerate Africa's journey toward sustainability. Our Kwashie Agbitor took the stage alongside Leanne Emery-Hunter of Youth Employment Services YES, Catherine Wijnberg of Fetola, and Vijay V. Vaitheeswaran of The Economist, to discuss unlocking the potential of Africa's rapidly growing youth population. Kwashie Agbitor shared his perspective on how companies in Africa can engage with young people, including: ▶️ Close the skills gap by facilitating continuous learning opportunities in the workplace. ▶️ Build a stronger talent pipeline by providing young people with upskilling and talent development. ▶️ Encourage innovation and entrepreneurship among youth, creating opportunities and improving access to finance for young entrepreneurs. Economist Impact events #EconSustainability

AI-powered tools can enable MSMEs to access cheaper credit and help service providers leverage data to improve credit assessments and offerings. What strategies and solutions can platforms and marketplaces implement to attract and retain MSMEs and other underserved customers? View this #FIW24 session to hear insights and learn experiences from finance, e-commerce, and fast-moving consumer goods industry leaders across Africa: Deepankar Rustagi, OmniRetail Technology Limited Dr. Natnael Agwar, Kifiya Financial Technology PLC Meghan McCormick, Oze Anjola Akinrinola, Accion 📽️ ➡️ https://lnkd.in/eRNTrcp3 #FIW24 Center for Financial Inclusion (CFI)

How can a smallholder farmer in rural Mexico or a small construction company in Indonesia access affordable working credit—when they have almost no credit history? The innovative startups supported by Accion Venture Lab are answering this question. Since 2012, Accion Venture lab has invested in 70+ fintech startups that are disrupting the status quo to provide underserved individuals and small businesses with financial services that unlock opportunity and resilience. Editor of Financial Times’ Moral Money newsletter Simon Mundy spoke with three founders of these remarkable companies — Hugo Garduño Ortega of Verqor, Benjamin Njenga of Apollo Agriculture, and Fajar Adiwidodo of bababos — to showcase the inventive approaches they’re taking to provide responsible credit and essential inputs to farmers and small businesses in Mexico, Kenya, Zambia, and Indonesia. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/epTYNvm5

The growing number of refugee and internally displaced populations is intensifying the need to equip these cohorts with opportunities and skillsets for self-reliance. What are the unique challenges that financial institutions and NGOs may face when working with vulnerable populations? What are the priorities when supporting these communities? Don’t miss this #FIW24 on-demand session to learn about unique perspectives of funders, financial institutions, and digital platforms from their work with refugee women on capacity building, livelihoods program participation, and financial access: https://lnkd.in/eg8zyPbF Featuring Speakers: Barri Shorey, Conrad N. Hilton Foundation Hillary Mbabazi, Soko Uganda Robert Magala, UGAFODE Microfinance Limited (MDI) Kwashie Agbitor, Accion Varun Chitale, Accion #FinclusionWeek Center for Financial Inclusion (CFI)