Zambia RECOVR 2 Timeline
Mitigating the Impacts of COVID-19 in Zambia: Insights from RECOVR 2
April 20, 2021

As part of IPA’s ongoing research around the socioeconomic impacts of COVID-19, we recently held a webinar with the Chronic Poverty Advisory Network highlighting key results of the second round of the RECOVR surveys in Zambia and Rwanda. This blog post summarizes the main findings of the survey in Zambia and policy recommendations. Click here for the blog for Rwanda.

In both countries, there are pockets of progress, including continued adherence to certain virus mitigation measures and promising acceptance rates for vaccinations. Education remains a key concern for parents of...
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From the Field to Policy Formulation—How Research is Informing Consumer Protection in Sierra Leone
February 18, 2021

This piece was first published on the blog of the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) here.

A group of women in Sierra Leone interviewed during the research process. Photo: United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF)


How many consumers share their PIN with someone else? Which consumers are more likely to pay more fees on their bank accounts? These are the kinds of questions that need to be asked when developing consumer protection policies. But the answers to these questions don’t appear in the reports banks submit to their regulators, or in the documents...
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New RECOVR Survey Findings in Sierra Leone Highlight Socio-Economic Fallout from COVID-19 as New Restrictions Are Put in Place
February 04, 2021

In July 2020, we highlighted Sierra Leone’s experience confronting COVID-19 from the vantage point of a fragile state—one that lived through civil war and, more recently, another acute public health crisis with Ebola in 2014, as well as a damaging mudslide in Freetown in 2017. Drawing on lessons learned from Ebola, Sierra Leone moved to close schools at the end of March, instituted a series of lockdowns in April and May, closed land borders for several months, and instituted a national mask mandate beginning in June. The government also prioritized more community-focused, tailored...
La República on Cash Assistance to Cope with COVID-19
Media Coverage
January 05, 2021

La República covers the impact of an IPA-valued VAT cash assistance program on building household financial resilience during the pandemic.
IPA Logo
A Phone Survey without Phones? Lessons in How to Reach Those without Access to Mobile Phones.
December 29, 2020

Editor’s Note: this is the second in a series of posts about adapting an ongoing policy project about digital payments with Bangladesh’s government to the current COVID-19 crisis.   In the first blog post of this series published in May, IPA was newly transitioning to phone surveys during the pandemic. IPA has been working with A2i, a branch of the Bangladesh government which helps to ensure access to public services, to help monitor the digitization process of government social support payments to three vulnerable populations: elderly pensioners, widows, and disabled people by transitioning...
In Vox, What a Study in Kenya Can Teach Us About Improving the Lives of the Unbanked
Media Coverage
September 29, 2020

Vox reviews recent updates and evidence in mobile money, including a study on the impact of providing access to mobile money accounts in Kenya. The piece reflects on how research like this can inform efforts to support the world's unbanked people.
Food security
How Ghanaians are Coping With COVID-19: Five Lessons from the RECOVR Survey
July 10, 2020

By Charles Amoatey, Elliott Collins, and Madeleen Husselman

In March, Ghana, like much of the world, adopted social distancing measures to slow the spread of COVID-19. Measures included the closings of schools and universities, suspension of gatherings of over 25 people, and partial lockdowns in major urban areas. 

So far, like most West African countries, Ghana has avoided the worst of the virus’s health toll. However, in low- and middle-income countries like Ghana, the pandemic’s socio-economic consequences may exceed the immediate health ones and even cost more lives....
In Pakistan's Dawn: IPA Financial Inclusion Director Rebecca Rouse on the Country's Microfinance Crisis
Media Coverage
June 29, 2020

In Pakistan's Dawn newspaper, IPA's Director of Financial Inclusion Rebecca Rouse and researcher Farah Said discuss the threat that COVID-19 poses to Pakistan's microfinance sector. The op-ed draws on findings from an IPA-funded study in which Said and her co-researchers surveyed microenterprise owners soon after the pandemic's onset. More information about the study, including the full working paper, is available here.
A busy street in Dhaka
Learning About Digital Benefit Payments in a Pandemic
May 22, 2020

 

Editor’s Note: this is the first in a series of posts about adapting an ongoing policy project about digital payments with Bangladesh’s government to the current COVID-19 crisis.

On one of many trips to Bangladesh, I met Rohima, whose story stuck with me. At the age of 22, Rohima moved from a rural village, leaving behind her two young children under the care of their grandparents, so she could work in one of the many Dhaka garment factories. The list of challenges she had to immediately figure out (and with no formal education) was staggering—how to get around, her new...
Workers resting on boats in Bangladesh
The Demand Side of COVID-19 Research: What Governments Need From Researchers for Effective Crisis Response
April 23, 2020

 

Across IPA’s 22 country offices, we partner with several dozen government ministries. In recent weeks, a new policy priority has arrived on most every policymaker’s agenda: responding to the challenges presented by the COVID-19 crisis.

Many of the countries where we work are still bracing for the worst of the pandemic’s impacts, and early action is critical for saving lives and livelihoods. Our partnerships with policymakers have allowed us to see how the impacts of the pandemic will be interpreted and addressed by decision-makers globally—from strains on health systems to...
Kenya's The Standard on Digital Consumer Protection Study
Media Coverage
March 17, 2020

Kenya's The Standard reports on a new IPA-funded study with the Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK) and Financial Sector Deepening (FSD-Kenya) to address common digital credit market and consumer protection issues.
IPA International Women's Day Authors
What We're Reading For International Women's Day
March 05, 2020

Sunday, March 8 is International Women’s Day. To mark the occasion, staff members from IPA’s Financial Inclusion and Small & Medium Enterprise programs are highlighting some readings they find insightful, especially as they pertain to new thinking about women’s entrepreneurship and access to finance in low- and middle-income countries.

Elizabeth Koshy, Program Manager, Small & Medium Enterprises

 

I really like the Household Matters paper by Arielle Bernhardt, Erica Field, Rohini Pande, and Natalia Rigol. Previous studies from Ghana and Sri Lanka had shown that...
IPA's Rafe Mazer in African Business Magazine on Digital Finance in Kenya
Media Coverage
February 25, 2020

IPA's Director of Consumer Protection, Rafe Mazer speaks in African Business Magazine on the importance of ensuring that Kenya's fast-growing financial technology sector provides inclusive products and services. Mazer also explains on IPA's blog how the new $5.4 Million initiative he directs aims to help protect consumers in four countries from poor or predatory digital financial services.
SMS Fraud Message
IPA Launches $5.4 Million Initiative to Protect Digital Finance Users
February 07, 2020

The text messages start before my plane even lands in Nairobi.

“MPESA soft loan now Available at 5% interest,@Ksh50,000. Call/sms on XXXXXXXXXX ​​​​​.”

 

My Kenyan SIM is back online, and so are the fake SMS loan offers.

I know not to reply to these messages because they don’t come from a phone number branded with a provider name, let alone the various typos I spot in most of these messages.

But many consumers don’t know the tell-tale signs of a fake loan, or maybe need a loan so bad they want to believe the offer is true. According to the 2019 FinAccess...
IndiaSpend Covers IPA Study on Women's Financial Autonomy
Media Coverage
January 24, 2020

IndiaSpend reports on a study providing women in Madhya Pradesh with personal bank accounts to determine the impact of women's increased financial control on labor market participation and earnings.

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