Increasing Rural African Women’s Access to Financial Services
New Perimeter assisted international development organization CARE in carrying out a pilot advocacy project in three African countries: Malawi, Rwanda and Mali. The project team, in 2011, advised local CARE offices on advocacy strategies aimed at promoting inclusive financial sector policies and institutions. CARE’s desired outcome is to increase women’s access to financial services (savings, loans, cash transfers, remittances, and insurance), address gender exclusion and increase gender equity. Each CARE office in Africa works with targeted impact groups, primarily poor women in rural areas, and CARE wants to maximize its impact on these groups by including advocacy on their behalf as a key component of its work.
A New Perimeter team of lawyers was tasked with evaluating the legal and regulatory schemes in place in Malawi, Rwanda and Mali and analyzing how they function in practice and how they impact women’s ability to access savings and credit services. The team also researched a number of issues that might pose barriers to women’s access to financial services, including: banking and microfinance regulatory restrictions, branchless banking limitations, lack of financial literacy and social protection policies, and the impact of Sharia'ah Law. This research was undertaken with sensitivity to the fact that there may be impediments to women’s access to finance that stem from cultural and/or practical considerations, as opposed to strict legal barriers. The team also examined the regulatory environment for NGOs in Rwanda, Malawi and Mali to explore ways to remove restrictions that impede the NGOs’ ability to assist in expanding women’s access to financial services in these countries.
The project was led by Access Africa, CARE’s signature microfinance program in Africa. It is focused on increasing women’s access to finance, chiefly through encouraging involvement in CARE’s Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs), informal, rural savings and credit collectives.
Three New Perimeter team members joined staff from CARE Access Africa in Malawi in March 2011 to present their research and to help the country office staff to identify and prioritize advocacy opportunities in the area of financial inclusion. One team member traveled with the CARE team to Rwanda in May 2011.
