New State of Practice Report Maps 74 Government Initiatives in Savings Groups

This new state of practice report – developed by the SEEP Network, in partnership with CARE International, Itad and FSD Africa – maps 74 public policies and programs related to Savings Groups in Sub-Saharan Africa.

David Panetta, Program Director for Savings Groups at the SEEP Network explains,

“Our aim is to inform and accelerate the development of effective partnerships between governments and other sector stakeholders, including funders, non-governmental organizations and financial service providers.”

According to Dr. Tukiya Kankasa-Mabula, Deputy Governor, Bank of Zambia and Chair, Gender and Women’s Financial Inclusion Committee, Alliance for Financial Inclusion,

"Savings Groups, which have the trust of excluded and underserved women, are a particularly well-positioned mechanism for bringing women into the formal financial sector. As financial policymakers and regulators, we have a central role within our national governments to promote Savings Groups in our public policy as part of our wider efforts to close gender gaps in financial inclusion."

Katharine McKee, Interim Lead, Partnership for Economic Inclusion, World Bank, said,

"Key findings highlighted in this report resonate strongly with our experience. Savings Groups feature prominently in many effective graduation-type programs, and there is growing interest in Savings Groups among social protection policymakers and program leaders. Governments are identifying Savings Groups not only as a route to addressing participants’ savings needs but also for their potential to offer an efficient, cost-effective operational platform for delivering and reinforcing other program components such as consumption support, livelihoods skills and long-term behavior change."

Access to the full report is available below.