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> Posted by Susy Cheston
This post is part of the Center for Financial Inclusion’s Expert Exchange: Building A Movement Toward Financial Inclusion by 2020, cultivating conversation around the goal of reaching full financial inclusion by 2020. For further questions about this series, write to , Fellow, Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion.
Are we “rushing inclusion perhaps to its early death,” as a recent post from the Kenya Financial Education Centre asks? In the post, John Gitau’s concern is that in our rush to access, we are getting ahead of clients’ capacity to use services wisely and well. It’s a good concern to raise, and it is especially legitimate when posed by someone who sees the fall-out up close and personal.
And yet the Center for Financial Inclusion is spearheading a Financial Inclusion 2020 project that is breathtaking in its audacity: building a movement to full financial inclusion for all, using the year 2020 as a focal point to clarify thinking and galvanize action. The argument of the Center is that working backwards from 2020—near enough that we can track our progress, far enough away that change is possible—results in a different kind of thinking than incremental strategies to add a few million clients here and there. To this end we are working with a wide range of partners to build a road map to full inclusion, pushing to accelerate what we believe to be critical access to financial services for those who are excluded. We are casting our net wide—engaging any and all who want to be involved in this effort.*
So, we are building a road map to inclusion–or, as our friend from Kenya might ask, are we building a road to ruin? Read the rest of this entry »
> Posted by John Gitau, CEO, Kenya Financial Education Centre
This post is part of the Center for Financial Inclusion’s Expert Exchange: Building A Movement Toward Financial Inclusion by 2020, cultivating conversation around the goal of reaching full financial inclusion by 2020. For further questions about this series, write to , Fellow, Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion.
As I mentioned in a blog post yesterday, financial literacy is a recipe that does not come together automatically, even if you seem to have all the right ingredients. You may have funding, but the funding could come with unrealistic expectations. You may have students, but the students may not have a good reason to pay attention to the lessons financial literacy training offers.
While I am new to the Financial Inclusion 2020 campaign, I am certain that full financial inclusion, with fully financially capable clients, will not happen without a sound structure to support financial literacy efforts. Read the rest of this entry »
> Posted by John Gitau, CEO, Kenya Financial Education Centre
This post is part of the Center for Financial Inclusion’s Expert Exchange: Building A Movement Toward Financial Inclusion by 2020, cultivating conversation around the goal of reaching full financial inclusion by 2020. For further questions about this series, write to , Fellow, Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion.
I have taught financial literacy in East Africa for the past eight years, and have managed my own firm for the past four. And here is one thing I have noticed: the financial inclusion community as a whole does not have a common definition or goal for financial education. This lack of an agreed-upon definition makes difficult the process of creating financially capable populations.
Here is how I define key terms:
Financial education is the process of teaching the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary in personal money management. The end result of financial education is financial literacy. Financial literacy is the ability to manage personal money well. But financial literacy is not an end in itself. It is a tool which when used well results in financial capability. Therefore, financial capability is the ability to apply financial literacy in personal money management to improve financial well-being. When a financially literate person takes action in a way that results in better money use, we say such a person is financially capable.
Not everyone maintains these definitions and goals, though. MFIs, corporations, NGOs, and SACCOs (savings and credit cooperatives) each come to me with different goals, some impossible to achieve. MFIs want me to teach their clients quickly so that they can improve on their loans repayments and increase saving. They are not keen on me teaching investment and some even warn me to be careful when handling the topic of the use of financial services. They want me not to dwell on costs but emphasize benefits. I sometimes find these requests quite amusing. Read the rest of this entry »
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