About
CGAP
The
Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) is a global partnership of more
than 30 leading development organizations that works to advance the
lives of people living in poverty, especially women, through financial inclusion. CGAP
is housed in and administered by the World Bank. CGAP works at the frontier of inclusive finance to test
solutions, spark innovation, generate evidence, and share insights. CGAP
knowledge enables public and private stakeholders to scale solutions that make
financial ecosystems meet the needs of poor, vulnerable, and underserved people
and of micro and small enterprises (MSEs), including through advancing women’s
economic empowerment.
CGAP is guided by
a five-year strategy and annual workplans. The current CGAP’s five-year
strategy covers the period of 2023 to 2028 (CGAP VII Strategy) and will
contribute to making financial ecosystems meet the needs of everyone –
including those living in poverty and micro and small firms – to enhance their
resiliency to shocks and their ability to seize economic opportunities and to
participate in a green transition.
To achieve this
objective, a critical goal of CGAP VII is to go beyond fostering an increase in
the breadth and depth of financial inclusion, i.e., in the access and usage of
financial services, to also focus on the utility of financial inclusion. That is,
on enhancing the practical benefits and positive outcomes financial inclusion
generates.
To achieve this,
CGAP will focus on contributing to the following outcomes through our work
program:
High-level outcomes
·
Mobilizing
financial services for climate adaptation, mitigation and a just transition
·
Mobilizing
financial services for building resilience to shocks and managing risks
·
Mobilizing financial services for women and
MSEs to capture economic opportunities
And to enable these outcomes, CGAP will
focus on the following intermediary outcome and foundational work:
Intermediary outcomes
·
Increasing the breadth and depth of
financial inclusion
Foundational Outcomes
·
Promoting
enabling responsible financial ecosystems and enabling financial sector
policies and regulations
·
Enhancing
the effectiveness of impact investing in inclusive finance and the
inclusiveness of carbon markets
·
Generating evidence of what works, where,
and for whom.
Implementing
a Responsible Digital Finance Ecosystem in Rwanda
In the
past decade, technology advances have significantly enhanced access and usage
of financial services, helping millions of new consumers build resilience and
seize economic opportunities. It is therefore critical to continue to enable
innovation to foster financial inclusion. At the same time, the complexity of
the digital finance ecosystem, with the emergence of many new types of
providers and technology enabled services and regulations, also brings new
challenges to consumers, especially those who are less digitally literate, as
well as to regulators who are falling behind. All the efforts made thus far in
ensuring that consumers are protected from digital finance risks have not been
sufficient and we see fast growing risks that could significantly reduce
consumers’ trust and financial services utility.
CGAP’s
2022 global research on digital financial services (DFS) consumer risks
highlights fast growth of fraud and data misuse for example, and recent
research in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) shows that
close to 90% of DFS consumers have faced some form of risk when using them and
close to 40% have lost money doing so. In this increasingly complex environment
for consumers, a more ambitious and holistic approach is required to ensure
that digital finance ecosystems become more responsible in the face of rapid
innovation.
The
Responsible Digital Finance Ecosystem (RDFE) project aims to influence
country-level policy makers and other market actors to take steps to make their
digital finance ecosystems more responsible to consumers, especially women, by
preventing, assessing, and mitigating consumer risks, and contributing to
positive outcomes for them. The project will also seek to help partners in
pilot countries, especially policy makers and DFS providers, make their digital
finance ecosystem more responsible and ultimately improve customer
experience. At the global level, the
project will ensure that key actors involved in digital finance understand the
RDFE approach and that funders as well as global industry and policy
organizations promote the entire approach or part of it.
As part of the RDFE project,
CGAP has developed a conceptual framework that seeks to encourage financial
sector authorities, and other key ecosystem actors, that include other
institutions such as telecommunication and data authorities, DFS providers,
consumer representatives, and market facilitators to come together to safeguard
consumers from potential harm and ensure that digital financial services enrich
their lives. It outlines four key components, Customer Centricity,
Collaboration, Capability, and Commitment, and draws on real-life examples and
case studies to provide a framework for financial consumer protection.
The RDFE conceptual framework
will be piloted in two countries, of which Rwanda is one of them. The specific objectives of the RDFE
pilot in Rwanda are to: Project
Background
1.
Enable digital finance ecosystem actors,
especially financial sector authorities, to better address digital
finance consumer risks through enhanced
identification, prevention, and mitigation.
2.
Foster an environment where providers offer
more responsible digital finance, particularly to women and consumers
experiencing vulnerability, in ways that lead to
positive outcomes.
Digital financial services
have expanded quickly in the past ten years in Sub-Saharan
Africa (SSA) essentially through the rise of mobile money services.
East African countries like Kenya and Tanzania are the home of the most
advanced DFS markets, including the proliferation
of digital credit products. The rapid advance of DFS has greatly
contributed to increasing financial inclusion in SSA. According to Findex
2021, Sub-Saharan Africa was the only region where the share of adults with a mobile
money account exceeded 30 percent. According to Rwanda’s 2024 FinScope
survey, 86% of Rwandan adults own a mobile money account or have used mobile
money, while the country has a financial inclusion rate of 96%.
Thus, digital technology and particularly mobile money is driving financial
inclusion in Rwanda.
At the same time, this rapid
expansion comes with risks for customers. Although a national DFS customer risk
assessment has not yet been conducted in Rwanda, experiences from West Africa
and other countries such as Tanzania, Kenya, Bangladesh, India, and the
Philippines, indicate that numerous risks can be anticipated. National Bank of Rwanda (NBR)’s 2021 customer
satisfaction survey involving 835 digital finance respondents, majority (91%)
of whom were mobile money users, shows that 52% of mobile money clients were not satisfied by the complaints
handling process and more than half of those cited delays in getting responses
to complaints as the main challenge. The
respondents also mentioned challenges relating to the availability of financial
services and security of funds. Although the digital credit market is still
small in Rwanda, it may also add specific risks
like over-indebtedness or the risk of being negatively listed in
a credit bureau for delinquency on a digital loan, potentially excluding them
from future formal credit as research in Kenya and Tanzania has
revealed.
The Rwanda context
Rwanda offers a unique
opportunity for implementing the RDFE framework due to the rapid growth of DFS.
According to the 2024 FinScope survey, 6.9 million adults (86%) reported using
mobile money, with mobile wallet registrations increasing from 60% in 2020 to
77% in 2024. Mobile money transactions extend beyond remittances to include
airtime purchases and bill payments. The digital credit market is still nascent,
with one of the two mobile money providers, MTN Money, and a few other
regulated financial institutions offering digital loans.
Rwanda aims to become a
regional fintech hub and has developed a comprehensive fintech policy and
strategy. This initiative is overseen by a steering committee that includes
NBR, the Ministry of ICT and Innovation, the Ministry of Finance and Economic
Planning, the Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority, and the Capital Markets
Authority. Additionally, Rwanda Finance Limited, which shoulders the task of
establishing Rwanda as a regional fintech hub, and industry associations
representing banks, insurance companies, microfinance institutions, and the
fintech association are part of the steering committee. The policy is
implemented through four working groups – paytech and credit; alternative
finance; wealthtech and insuretech; and regtech and suptech – that promote inter-governmental
coordination.
Given this context, Rwanda’s
DFS ecosystem is still evolving and holds significant potential for the
diversification of digital finance products. This evolution may introduce new
DFS risks or increase the complexity of existing ones. Therefore, a proactive
and ecosystem-wide approach is necessary, involving all key DFS stakeholders,
including those outside the financial sector. This approach aims to identify,
assess, and mitigate customer risks that could lead to negative experiences and
outcomes, rather than relying solely on reactive, institution-specific
strategies.
Key stakeholders in Rwanda
have already implemented several mechanisms to promote consumer protection.
Notably, they have established a Financial Consumer Protection Forum, which
includes representatives from NBR, other authorities such as
telecommunications, competition, capital markets, the Ministry of Finance and
Economic Planning, the consumers association, industry associations (insurance,
microfinance institutions, and banking), Access to Finance Rwanda, and the
credit bureau. Within the financial sector, the NBR has taken a leading role in
establishing a financial consumer protection framework. It has a dedicated
Consumer Protection Department that addresses consumer protection issues in the
financial sector and coordinates with other sector regulators.
The RDFE pilot in Rwanda will
assist key DFS stakeholders in addressing the challenges consumers face and
will contribute to the development of a responsible market. Rwanda will serve
as a model for other markets, both emerging and well-developed, in implementing
a responsible DFS ecosystem that protects vulnerable DFS customers. To
implement the RDFE framework, CGAP and NBR are partnering and the first step towards
building a RDFE is to have a baseline assessment of the risks faced by DFS
users. In this context, CGAP, in collaboration with NBR, is recruiting a firm that will have the
responsibility to conduct a representative phone-based survey of the risks
faced by DFS consumers, notably mobile money users, in Rwanda.
Scope
of Work
The firm
will carry out the following activities:
·
Desk
review to thoroughly familiarize itself with CGAP and other organizations’
previous works on DFS and consumer risks in other countries.
·
Management
of the data protection requirements and authorization needed with the data
protection authority with the support of CGAP and NBR. It should be noted that
obtaining this authorization may require time that cannot be accurately
estimated in advance and requires some flexibility in the schedule of the work
and availability of the team.
·
Signature
of confidentiality agreements with the selected providers partners of the
research work.
·
Collection
of main mobile money variables and indicators from selected providers.
·
Summary
statistics on mobile money services access, use, and quality, including by
different client segments (e.g. gender).
·
Detailed
implementation plan with activities, timelines and protocols for preparation,
pilot and rollout phases. This will include proposed quality control procedures,
especially for checking interviewers’ conduct and verifying completed interviews
on a daily basis, and monitoring terminations and other issues with interviews.
·
Focus
group discussions that gather insights of consumer perceptions, understanding,
positive experiences, problems regarding DFS, considering different consumer
segments (e.g. women/men, rural/urban settings); these focus groups will help
inform, update and review the questionnaire for the random survey and provide
inputs for analysis of survey results.
·
The
firm will be responsible for adapting the survey questionnaire model (for
phone-based or in-person interview) to the Rwandan context with inputs from the
focus group discussions, NBR, CGAP, DFS providers and own research.
·
Development
of scripts, interview manuals and training for all staff involved in
implementing the survey.
·
Testing
of the script and questionnaire prior to rollout, including respondents from a variety
of providers and consumer segments (e.g., gender, location, language). The
responses should be entered electronically to pre-test the data entry,
verification, and quality control processes.
·
Based
on analysis of the test results, the firm will propose updates to the
questionnaire, script and manuals, to be discussed with CGAP and NBR before
final changes are made. The final version of the survey questionnaire and
script will have to be in English and translated into any other relevant local
language if need be.
·
Representative
phone survey that produces responses for N = 1,000 mobile money users. The firm should ensure that women are
correctly represented within the respondents.
·
The
firm will also be responsible for recruiting and training the survey data
collection team and ensuring that the survey data collection team will be
gender balanced so women customers could be interviewed by women; collecting,
cleaning, processing and delivering clean data once the data collection
processes are completed.
·
Present
survey findings and analysis in a workshop with partners and other local
stakeholders.
·
The
firm will regularly update CGAP and NBR on the progress of the survey and share
any potential challenges.
Prior to
the study, CGAP and NBR will have an agreement with selected providers, which
will have accepted to participate and share data for the survey.
Deliverables
1. Inception
report, including mobile money context, implementation plan, quality
control measures.
2. Report
on main mobile money services variables and indicators and summary statistics
on mobile money access, use, and quality, including by different client
segments (at the minimum gender disaggregated).
4. Report
on the results of the Focus
group discussions.
5. Questionnaire adapted
to the Rwandan context and script.
6. Analysis
of the results of the pilot testing of the survey questionnaire
and script; and proposed revisions to the questionnaire and script.
7. Note
on training of interviewers, and incorporation in script or manual of any
relevant feedback from training.
8. Finalized
questionnaire and script, including translations in relevant languages if
relevant.
9. Report
on completion of the phone survey, including data collection, coding, cleaning
and weighing activities.
10. Clean
data tables with the results of the survey, including data presented per
provider.
11. Draft
report in the form of a power point presentation on the findings from the phone
survey, and final version including a summary.
12. A presentation
for a workshop to present findings and analysis to partners and other local
stakeholders.
13. Regular
updates throughout data collection, including regular calls with CGAP team and NBR.
All the
documents will be in English.
Selection
criteria
The firm should
have the following skills and experience:
·
Proven experience conducting high quality data collection,
including strong quality control and data cleaning measures;
·
Proven experience in conducting DFS risk assessments in Sub-Saharan
Africa markets, in particular anglophone markets;
·
Excellent understanding of issues related to consumer protection,
especially in the financial and telecommunications services sectors in
Sub-Saharan Africa markets;
·
Excellent understanding of issues related to DFS risks, mitigation
and management systems, as well as associated regulatory frameworks, especially
in the financial and telecommunications services sectors in Sub-Saharan Africa
markets;
·
Proven experience conducting phone surveys, including with
pre-established call lists;
·
Proven experience designing consumer research tools for use with
low-income and financial consumers;
·
Proven experience administering financial inclusion consumer
research that include consumer protection and evolving risks-relevant subject
matter;
·
Strong knowledge of financial inclusion and innovative products
and delivery channels in Sub-Saharan Africa;
·
Strong understanding of the local DFS context in Rwanda;
·
Compliance with local or international data protection rules, and
·
Fluency in English.
Ownership/Control of
Work Product/Publication
All materials produced or acquired during the appointment -
written, graphic, film, and digital audio/video or otherwise - shall remain the
property of the World Bank unless and to the extent such rights are explicitly
relinquished (in whole or in part) by the World Bank, in writing. The World
Bank furthermore retains the exclusive right to publish or disseminate in all language’s
reports arising from such materials.
In the event of early termination of the appointment, the Firm
shall return all copies of all materials and data developed during this
assignment.
Any material developed by the Firm under these TORs may not
be used without written prior approval by the World Bank.
Authorship and Acknowledgement
CGAP staff will generally be listed as the authors of any
publication or other communication that is produced as a result of the research
conducted during the appointment. The firm’s contribution in conducting this
research will be acknowledged in any such publication. If, in the reasonable
view of the Task Manager, the firm contributes significantly to the
conceptualization and drafting of any documents created, the firm will be
listed as co-author, along with the relevant CGAP staff.
Task Manager/Reporting
The firm will report to the Task
Manager. The Task Manager is Eric Duflos, Senior Financial Sector Specialist.
CGAP may designate another qualified task manager. The Project Manager
delegates to Majorie Chalwe-Mulenga the daily management of the project. The
Task Manager has final sign off on deliverables and invoices.
Schedule
All work will be completed between February 1 and October
31, 2025, unless the appointment is extended, or a new appointment is made. The
schedule could be further clarified in each subsequent task assignment.
