How can savings groups be provided with safe, affordable and convenient formal financial services? How can formal financial service providers develop products for savings groups in a way that is profitable and reaches scale? In the fast-paced “grow or die” world of formal finance, these are some of the big questions ahead of us.

The SEEP Network’s upcoming conference, to be held from May 22-24 in Kigali, Rwanda, is aptly named SG2018: The Power of Savings Groups. UNCDF (United Nations Capital Development Fund) has long promoted savings groups. These groups are indeed a powerful mechanism for helping those not yet part of the formal financial system to smooth irregular income flows, to save, and to have access to other important financial services such as credit and a social fund. As the organizing chair of a Peer Learning Session on Speeding Up Useful Linkages, UNCDF will lead a discussion on how a bank, NGO, and MNO (Mobile Network Operator) in different parts of Africa are tackling the questions surrounding offering services that benefit both client and provider.

What You Can Learn at SG2018

At the session on May 23, UNCDF will host an “armchair” chat with Gerald Nyakwawa of Econet Wireless Zimbabwe, Michael Maggebo of NMB Bank, Tanzania, and Clement Bisai of CARE Malawi to provide diverse viewpoints on how to create win-win relationships between clients and formal providers. These three stakeholders have a depth of experience in different areas of successfully developing and offering formal services to savings groups members in widely different contexts. Session attendees will receive tangible advice and concrete criteria on building mechanisms for healthy and successful financial linkages.

Attendees will learn about CARE’s specific experience in Malawi, Econet’s strategy for reaching clients in a challenging climate in Zimbabwe, and NMB’s success in reaching over 12,000 groups with savings in Tanzania – amassing over TZS 8 billion – in less than 2 years. All presenters can speak to the perceptions that the NGO and/or MNO and FSP (Financial Service Provider) often have before and after linkage, and how these can be measured. These three institutions have all explored the journeys that both client and provider experience, using a mix of quantitative and qualitative data, to build stronger relationships and more profitable products.

At the center of the discussion will be questions such as:

• How can FSPs and NGOs create effective partnerships to achieve scale?
• What other mechanisms are effective – or not so effective – in linking savings groups to FSPs?
• What are the perceptions of the group and that of the FSP/MNO before and after linkage?
• In a rapidly-changing landscape for linkages, how can digital products and innovations be game changers?

This session will complement the comprehensive offering during SG2018, during which attendees will have the opportunity to visit Rwandan savings groups in the field at a Peer Exchange, learn from peers from across Africa and the world, and hear from innovators who are leveraging the power of savings groups to empower members, increase their resilience and improve their economic lives.

You can register for SG2018 right now! For more information, visit the event website here.

Jessica Massie, Financial Capability Specialist, UNCDF

Jessica Massie is an education specialist with over 15 years of experience in financial literacy, nonformal education and financial inclusion throughout Africa. At UNCDF, she is focused on developing financial and digital literacy programs and strengthening savings groups in and around Tanzania’s refugee camps. She has conducted training of trainers workshops globally and written and adapted education for clients of commercial banks, microfinance institutions and village savings and loan (VS&L) groups across Africa.