Empowering the Poor Through Financial and Social Inclusion in Africa

Empowering the Poor Through Financial and Social Inclusion in Africa PDF

Author: Abdelrahman Elzahi Saaid Ali

Publisher:

Published: 2022

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9783031031816

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This book discusses financial inclusion, gender equality, regulatory regimes for microfinance, women empowerment, and digital finance from an Islamic perspective. It encourages the reader to reflect on whether the delivery of financial services from an Islamic perspective might be attainable and lead to achieving global financial inclusion. Accessing financing is one of the most formidable challenges facing disadvantaged in IsDB member countries. The race to serve these niche markets has led to the emergence of conventional microfinance. There remains the lingering question of whether conventional microfinance in its current form has conclusively led to poverty alleviation among Muslim communities. Hence, there is a need of having Shari'ah-compliant business model that depends on Islamic socio-economic tools such as Zakah, Sadaqah, and Waqf might best address the needs self-financial exclusion or the exclusion of the extremely poor in Muslim. Abdelrahman Elzahi Saaid Ali is Senior Economist at the Islamic Development Bank Institute (IsDBi). Before joining IsDBi in 2008, Dr. Elzahi held a faculty position as Associate Professor of Economics at Sudan University of Science and Technology. Dr. Elzahi received his BSc in Banking and Finance from Sudan University of Science and Technology, MA in Economics from Omdurman Islamic University, Sudan, and PhD in Economics from the International Islamic University Malaysia. He is a co-editor of Revitalization of Waqf Economic Development, Volumes I & II, and the main author of Volumes I & II of Financial Inclusion through Islamic Finance. His current research areas include Digital Financial Inclusion Technology Adoption in achieving sustainable development.

Financial Inclusion for Poverty Alleviation

Financial Inclusion for Poverty Alleviation PDF

Author: Essam Yassin Mohammed

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2017-12-12

Total Pages: 294

ISBN-13: 1351595113

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More than one billion people still live below the poverty line – most of them in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Financial inclusion is a major issue, as more than three-quarters of the numbers of poor and disadvantaged women and men do not have access to financial products and services, such as bank accounts, affordable and suitable loans, and insurance. The key objective of this book is to provide practical case studies of financial inclusion, rather than focus on academic debates such as the ideological basis of promoting microfinance. Using the recently adopted Sustainable Development Goals as an overall framing of the issues, it shows how poor and disadvantaged women and men can be bankable if the right facilitation for maximizing opportunities and addressing constraints are in place. Case studies confirm that achieving inclusive and sustainable access to financial products and services goes beyond simply enabling poor and disadvantaged women and men to have access to credit, or the ability to open a bank account. Examples from Africa, Asia and Latin America demonstrate encouraging progress in making microcredit accessible to millions of poor people. The foremost challenge, however, has been to ensure that they have access to, and usage intensity of, suitable and affordable financial products and services that meet the needs of their livelihoods as well as risks and mitigation strategies. This requires understanding that poor and disadvantaged women and men do not exist in isolation from complex and interdependent functions in the financial system, which includes a number of actors, diversified services, constraints (not just symptoms) and capacities and incentives. Overall, the book provides a rich source of examples of how building inclusive financial systems can empower the world's poor – by increasing income and employment opportunities, securing livelihoods and reducing poverty.

Efficiency, Equity and Well-Being in Selected African Countries

Efficiency, Equity and Well-Being in Selected African Countries PDF

Author: Almas Heshmati

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2019-04-19

Total Pages: 306

ISBN-13: 9783030114183

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This book addresses poverty and well-being, equity, and efficiency in selected African countries. The chapters focus on three main topics: studies in the measurement and analysis of well-being and vulnerability to poverty, women's empowerment, and the dynamics and determinants of income and efficiency among smallholders. The chapters in the first section examine poverty, well-being, and vulnerability to poverty, as well as social exclusion, with a focus on households in Ethiopia, Rwanda, and Tanzania. They highlight the need to consider multidimensional measures of well-being and vulnerability to poverty, the need to address the distribution of vulnerability across different segments of the population, as well as the importance of developing public policies aimed at poverty reduction and promoting the well-being of the poor. The next section deals with issues related to women’s empowerment, including a multidimensional case study of women’s empowerment in Ghana and women’s access to microfinance services in Ethiopia. The final section focuses on dynamics and determinants of income and efficiency among farm households in Ethiopia and Uganda. Using a variety of methodologies, this volume provides a multifaceted approach to studying poverty and well-being in a diverse range of locations. As such, it of use to undergraduate and graduate students studying African economics or economics of poverty and well-being, and will be appealing to public policymakers and international aid agencies.

Empowering the Poor through Financial and Social Inclusion in Africa

Empowering the Poor through Financial and Social Inclusion in Africa PDF

Author: Abdelrahman Elzahi Saaid Ali

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2022-04-25

Total Pages: 158

ISBN-13: 3031009258

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This book discusses financial inclusion, gender equality, regulatory regimes for microfinance, women empowerment, and digital finance from an Islamic perspective. It encourages the reader to reflect on whether the delivery of financial services from an Islamic perspective might be attainable and lead to achieving global financial inclusion. Accessing financing is one of the most formidable challenges facing disadvantaged in IsDB member countries. The race to serve these niche markets has led to the emergence of conventional microfinance. There remains the lingering question of whether conventional microfinance in its current form has conclusively led to poverty alleviation among Muslim communities. Hence, there is a need of having Shari’ah-compliant business model that depends on Islamic socio-economic tools such as Zakah, Sadaqah, and Waqf might best address the needs self-financial exclusion or the exclusion of the extremely poor in Muslim.

Transforming Africa

Transforming Africa PDF

Author: Dana T. Redford

Publisher: Emerald Group Publishing

Published: 2022-01-26

Total Pages: 304

ISBN-13: 1802620532

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Transforming Africa: How Savings Groups Foster Financial Inclusion, Resilience and Economic Development presents in-depth empirical research into current day savings group activities across Africa, exploring savings groups through the lens of financial inclusion and reflecting on formal finance, economic and social outcomes.

Economic Inclusion in Post-Independence Africa

Economic Inclusion in Post-Independence Africa PDF

Author: David Mhlanga

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2023-09-04

Total Pages: 383

ISBN-13: 303131431X

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The second in a three-volume series, this edited volume discusses post-independence economic inclusion in selected African countries. While human development indices rise and poverty rates fall across the African continent, facilitated by recent technological and innovation development which reaches previously inaccessible regions, indicators continue to lag in several crucial areas. Economic and social inclusion, therefore, remains at the forefront of development discussions across the continent. Using a variety of case studies underpinned by multidisciplinary research approaches, the chapters in this book explore a wide range of economic and financial inclusion issues from all aspects; from benefits and challenges to the steps that need to be taken to improve the level of economic inclusion on the continent. Governments, development agencies, non-governmental organizations with a bias toward development, students, and university lecturers will all find this book interesting.

The Global Findex Database 2017

The Global Findex Database 2017 PDF

Author: Asli Demirguc-Kunt

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 2018-04-19

Total Pages: 148

ISBN-13: 1464812683

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In 2011 the World Bank—with funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation—launched the Global Findex database, the world's most comprehensive data set on how adults save, borrow, make payments, and manage risk. Drawing on survey data collected in collaboration with Gallup, Inc., the Global Findex database covers more than 140 economies around the world. The initial survey round was followed by a second one in 2014 and by a third in 2017. Compiled using nationally representative surveys of more than 150,000 adults age 15 and above in over 140 economies, The Global Findex Database 2017: Measuring Financial Inclusion and the Fintech Revolution includes updated indicators on access to and use of formal and informal financial services. It has additional data on the use of financial technology (or fintech), including the use of mobile phones and the Internet to conduct financial transactions. The data reveal opportunities to expand access to financial services among people who do not have an account—the unbanked—as well as to promote greater use of digital financial services among those who do have an account. The Global Findex database has become a mainstay of global efforts to promote financial inclusion. In addition to being widely cited by scholars and development practitioners, Global Findex data are used to track progress toward the World Bank goal of Universal Financial Access by 2020 and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The database, the full text of the report, and the underlying country-level data for all figures—along with the questionnaire, the survey methodology, and other relevant materials—are available at www.worldbank.org/globalfindex.

Empowering African Women for Sustainable Development

Empowering African Women for Sustainable Development PDF

Author: Ogechi Adeola

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2020-12-17

Total Pages: 175

ISBN-13: 3030591026

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This edited volume assesses the progress that sub-Saharan African countries have made towards gender equality and offers strategies that can be used to empower African women to contribute to the fulfilment of the United Nations’ (UN) 2030 sustainable development goals (SDGs). The contributing authors consider the goals identified during the 1995 United Nations World Conference on Women and the 2015 UN World Conference on Sustainable Development in New York—including no poverty, healthy life, quality education, gender equality, peace and justice, reduced inequalities, and decent work and economic growth—and document the advances made on these goals, with a special emphasis on African women’s experiences. They provide innovative ideas for accelerating achievement of the SDGs and address challenges and opportunities in tourism, business, politics, entrepreneurship, academia, financial inclusion, and the digital gender divide. This book will be of value to policymakers, non-profit organisations focused on gender equality and sustainable development, and academics and scholars who teach and study gender-related issues in the African continent.

Voice and Agency

Voice and Agency PDF

Author: Jeni Klugman

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 2014-09-29

Total Pages: 239

ISBN-13: 1464803609

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Despite recent advances in important aspects of the lives of girls and women, pervasive challenges remain. These challenges reflect widespread deprivations and constraints and include epidemic levels of gender-based violence and discriminatory laws and norms that prevent women from owning property, being educated, and making meaningful decisions about their own lives--such as whether and when to marry or have children. These often violate their most basic rights and are magnified and multiplied by poverty and lack of education. This groundbreaking book distills vast data and hundreds of studies to shed new light on deprivations and constraints facing the voice and agency of women and girls worldwide, and on the associated costs for individuals, families, communities, and global development. The volume presents major new findings about the patterns of constraints and overlapping deprivations and focuses on several areas key to women s empowerment: freedom from violence, sexual and reproductive health and rights, ownership of land and housing, and voice and collective action. It highlights promising reforms and interventions from around the world and lays out an urgent agenda for governments, civil society, development agencies, and other stakeholders, including a call for greater investment in data and knowledge to benchmark progress.