EAC Financial Inclusion Stakeholder Mapping REPORT JANUARY - 2020 Supported by the: 1 Acknowledgements This report was produced by FinTechStage and Canela Consulting (our research partners). Contributors included Dr. Erin Taylor, Dr. Whitney Easton and Luis Carlos Serna Prati. Ariadne Plaitakis contributed material on regulation. Data analysis was carried out by Mariela Atannasova and Gawain Lynch. Infographics were produced by Ana Subtil, Mariela Atanassova and Whitney Easton. We would like to thank the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for their active support of the programme and the broad access to research material on Financial Inclusion. Lazaro Campos Co-Founder, FinTechStage January 2020 2 EAC FINANCIAL INCLUSION STAKEHOLDER MAPPING - REPORT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The East African Community (EAC), a regional economic community, is often presented as a model of financial inclusion in Africa. Over the past few years, we have seen tremendous improvement across the region, but much remains to be done. The purpose of this body of work is to understand the state of financial inclusion across the EAC and identify how to advance. The first step is to map the financial inclusion landscape to identify stakeholders, gaps, and areas for intervention. We carried out data collection and network mapping for all six EAC Member States. In this report we identify: • All stakeholders who are working on financial inclusion issues in the EAC, including the financial sector, mobile network operators (MNOs), mobile money operators (MMOs), microfinance institutions (MFIs), new fintech players, non-for-profit organisations and government bodies • Thefinancial inclusion initiatives taking place across the region in different areas: Advisory, Advocacy & Coordination, Capacity Building, Products & Innovation, Financial Literacy, Financial Sector Development, Funding & Investment, Infrastructure, Market Development, Payments Interoperability, Policy, Regulation & Supervision, Regional Integration, Social & Consumer Protection and Strategy • The role of government in this landscape in developing and implementing National Financial Inclusion Strategies, policies and regulation • The extent to which three key populations are covered by financial inclusion: women, smallholders and MSMEs • Market maturity and its potential to advance financial inclusion in each EAC Member State We identified the following gaps in financial inclusion provision: • Stakeholder diversity—All markets are dominated by MMOs, MFIs, MNOs and banks. Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda are more diverse in the fintech space, which is promising for creating an anti-fragile market where local companies develop locally appropriate products. There is reasonable diversity in not-for-profit and international organisations, but their numbers are relatively low compared to other sectors • Stakeholder capacity to reach the poor—Many stakeholders could achieve more with respect to financial inclusion. In particular, companies could be assisted to improve the efficiency of their services to create more viable value propositions for the poor • Reaching disadvantaged groups—For financial inclusion to be effective it needs to reach disadvantaged and economically important groups such as women, smallholders, refugees and MSMEs. Not-for-profit and international organisations are especially well-placed to provide capacitation programs for the poor to overcome issues of distrust, literacy, etc. • Leveraging local stakeholders—Implementing successful financial inclusion initiatives can require local knowledge of market activities, culture and politics EAC FINANCIAL INCLUSION STAKEHOLDER MAPPING - REPORT 3 • Increasing access and usage—Across the region, the majority of people who do not have an account say they would like to have one but do not have enough money to use one. Increasing incomes, digitising incomes, and increasing awareness of how digital wallets work may assist with increasing both access and usage In our view, the path forward would be to analyse and act at the regional level, while keeping an eye on local context for the purposes of both initiative design and mode of implementation. Actions that could be taken at the regional level include: • Harmonise legislation across the region (as per Banque Centrale des Etats de l’Afrique de l’Ouest [BCEAO] in West Africa and Central African Economic and Monetary Community [CEMAC]) • Develop a regional biometric ID to overcome KYC challenges (as per BCEAO) • Stimulate regional initiatives to accelerate the growth of fintech; for example, regional innovation hubs that focus on cross country learnings, attracting foreign investment, or a regional sandbox network to allow passporting from one country to another (as per the Global Financial Innovation Network [GFIN]) • Development of regional interoperable payment schemes • Support for cross-border collaborations and knowledge sharing, such as the development of partnerships and opportunities to share strategies and knowledge, including lessons in G2P payments, tailoring products to specific groups, or tackling inefficiencies in service delivery to increase profits • Capacity-building for financial inclusion stakeholders, especially those who serve financial inclusion goals indirectly, to improve their product offerings for lower income and remote people and help them understand when strategies to reach consumers need to be tailored to niche groups or circumstances Further actions may need to be aimed at particular populations or contexts, such as financial services with interfaces suitable for people with low literacy levels, or apps designed for mobile youth. In some cases, the functionality of products and programs may be suitable for a broad population, but may need to be delivered to particular groups in specific ways. There is plenty to be done to advance financial inclusion in the EAC, and also plenty that can actually be done. A multilateral and differentiated approach is the most efficient, resilient, and human-friendly way to fill the present gaps in provision and create a kind of financial inclusion that provides value to people, businesses, stakeholders and benefits society at large. 4 EAC FINANCIAL INCLUSION STAKEHOLDER MAPPING - REPORT TABLE OF CONTENTS ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS 6 FIGURES 7 INTRODUCTION 8 COUNTRY COMPARISON 11 FINANCIAL SERVICE PROVIDERS AND PROGRAMMES 20 Major Regional Players 21 Mobile Money Operators 25 Banks and Microfinance Institutions 28 Not-for-Profit and International Organisations 32 Money Transfer Operators 35 Fintech Companies 36 Savings and Credit Cooperative Societies (SACCOS) 38 NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 41 Policy and Regulation 43 Kenya 43 Tanzania 45 Uganda 48 Rwanda 49 Burundi 50 South Sudan 51 G2P Payments 52 Case Study: Tanzania 54 KEY POPULATIONS 56 Women 59 MSMEs 62 Smallholder Farmers 63 ECOSYSTEM MATURITY 68 THE PATH FORWARD 72 Methodology 75 APPENDIX A - NETWORK MAPS 76 APPENDIX B - LISTS OF STAKEHOLDERS IN THE EAC 83 EAC FINANCIAL INCLUSION STAKEHOLDER MAPPING - REPORT 5 ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS ADB — African Development Bank BCEAO — Banque Centrale des Etats de l’Afrique de l’Ouest CEMAC — Central African Economic and Monetary Community COMESA — Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa DIL — Data Integrated Limited EAC — East African Community EAMU — East African Monetary Union EAPS — East Africa Payments Systems FSA — Financial Services Authority FSDP — Financial Sector Development Programme G2P — Government to Person GDP — Gross Domestic Product GFIN — Global Financial Innovation Network GNI — Gross National Income I-CSP — Interim Country Strategy Paper JOYWO — Joyful Women’s Organisation MFI — Microfinance Institution MMO — Mobile Money Operator MNO — Mobile Network Operator MSME — Micro and Small to Medium Enterprise MTO — Money Transfer Operator MTP3 — Third Medium Term Plan NFIF — National Financial Inclusion Framework NFIS — National Financial Inclusion Strategy NGO — Non-Government Organisation NIFC — Nairobi International Financial Centre P2G — Person to Government POS — Point of Sale PSSN — Productive Social Safety Net (Tanzania) RTGS — Real Time Gross Settlement Systems RISA — Rwandan Information Society Authority SACCOS — Savings and Credit Cooperative Society SSA — Sub-Saharan Africa TASAF — Tanzania Social Action Fund UWEP — Uganda Women Entrepreneurship Programme WEDAC — Women’s Empowerment Development Agency WOCCU — World Council of Credit Unions 6 EAC FINANCIAL INCLUSION STAKEHOLDER MAPPING - REPORT FIGURES Figure 1. Key facts about the EAC. Figure 2. Key indicators for the EAC countries. Figure 3. Key indicators in the EAC. Figure 4. Reasons for not owning an account in the EAC, by country. Figure 5. Ability to raise emergency funds, poorest 40% and the richest 60%. Figure 6. Methods for raising emergency funds, poorest 40% and the richest 60%. Figure 7. MTN and Airtel Money mobile money agent on the edge of Kampala, Uganda. Figure 8. Mobile network operators in the EAC. Figure 9. Fintechs in the EAC. Figure 10. Mobile money operators in the EAC. Figure 11. Percentage of poorest 40% and the richest 60% with a mobile money account in the EAC, by country. Figure 12. Financial inclusion in the EAC. Figure 13. Percentage of poorest 40% and the richest 60% with an account at a financial institution in the EAC, by country. Figure 14. Banks per 100,000 adults in the EAC. Figure 15: Number of MFIs in each EAC country. Figure 16. NGOs offering financial inclusion programmes in the EAC, by country Figure 17. Major not-for-profit and international