You are currently browsing the tag archive for the ‘Morocco’ tag.
> Posted by Gloria Grandolini, Senior Director, Finance and Markets Global Practice, the World Bank Group
FI2020 Week
is a global conversation on the key actions needed to advance financial inclusion, grounded in the findings of the recently launched FI2020 Progress Report. From November 2-6, 2015, stakeholders around the world are participating in more than 30 events and sharing their voices over social media, with #FI2020.
Despite significant progress and the increased technical and financial resources devoted to financial inclusion, 2 billion people worldwide still lack access to regulated financial services.
As I read the FI2020 Progress Report and cast my vote on how the world is doing on the five aspects of financial inclusion the FI2020 report covers, I’m reminded of the recent Global Policy Forum of the Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI), where I had rich discussions with AFI members regarding how to meet challenges to expanding access to financial services.
The successes and obstacles which AFI members shared echo many of the points identified in the FI2020 Progress report as shaping the future of financial inclusion.
These hurdles can be distilled into five main challenges:
Financial literacy and capability. Countries must develop financial capability programs to ensure people can make sound financial decisions, select financial products which best fit their needs, and know how to use related channels, such as ATMs or mobile banking. Recent World Bank Group Financial Capability Surveys in Morocco and Mozambique, and studies on remittance services among migrants in France and Italy, show that a lack of awareness prevents people from using suitable financial products and services. Behavioral insights are leading to more effective – and lower cost – financial literacy efforts, which can improve uptake of new accounts and increase savings, including through tailored SMS texts.
> Posted by Center Staff
Unless you’re with one of the few organizations working to combat youth financial exclusion, you probably don’t hear much about the issue. A few weeks ago, the world celebrated Global Money Week, which is gaining encouraging participation and engagement. Sadly, aside from this annual blitz of activity, there isn’t much in the airwaves on expanding financial access to this hugely underserved client segment. According to the Global Findex, in higher-income countries, 42 percent of youth save in financial institutions. The next highest regions are East Asia & Pacific and sub-Saharan Africa, where this rate is 19 and 9 percent respectively. During our youth, financial services and financial education help us save for the future, form good money management behaviors, and navigate life transitions like getting an education and starting a family.
The MasterCard Foundation, as spotlighted in a recently released report, has been quietly busy these past seven years working to address this shortcoming. Since 2008, the Foundation in partnership with six organizations has worked with over 30 financial services providers and non-profits to expand youth access to banking services. The new report, Financial Services for Young People: Prospects and Challenges, reviews the MasterCard Foundation’s youth financial inclusion projects for insights and learning to inform future industry efforts.
> Posted by the Microfinance CEO Working Group
The following post was originally published on the Microfinance CEO Working Group blog.
The American Economic Journal has published an issue dedicated to six new studies measuring the impact of microcredit. Through a series of randomized control trials (RCTs), researchers have identified some of the effects of expanded access to microcredit on borrowers and communities in Bosnia, Ethiopia, India, Mexico, Mongolia, and Morocco.
The researchers reported evidence of positive impacts of microcredit on occupational choice, business scale, consumption choice, female decision power, and improved risk management, but did not report clear evidence of reduction in poverty or substantial improvements in living standards. “These results,” conclude the authors, “suggest that although microcredit may not be transformative in the sense of lifting people or communities out of poverty, it does afford people more freedom in their choices… and the possibility of being self-reliant.”
> Posted by Jeffrey Riecke, Communications Associate, CFI
Islamic finance is expected to expand substantially in 2015, from 2014’s total of $2.1 trillion to $2.5 trillion, according to figures released last week by the Al-Huda Centre of Islamic Banking and Economics. In 2011, the industry had assets of about $1 trillion. Islamic microfinance, the segment of Sharia-compliant services targeting clients at the base of the pyramid, only occupies a small slice of the pie, at 1 percent of all Islamic finance globally. However this uptick in Sharia-compliant finance, as well as encouraging recent support for the 650 million Muslims living on less than 2 dollars a day, suggest a rising tide for Islamic microfinance.
The industry findings indicate that not only did Islamic finance surpass the $2 trillion landmark in 2014, it gained traction in nascent markets and entered new ones. Markets still green in offering Islamic finance that showed growth in 2014 include Morocco, Tunisia, Azerbaijan, Libya, and several non-Muslim-majority countries including Nigeria, Tanzania, and South Africa. Among the new markets where Islamic finance took root last year are Australia, Brazil, and China. Globally, there are 1,500 organizations working in Islamic finance across 90 countries – 40 percent of which are non-Muslim-majority countries. The expansion of Islamic finance opens the door for the many Muslims whose beliefs preclude them from accepting finance with interest rates and fee structures outlawed by Sharia doctrine.
> Posted by Stephen Thomas, Director of Risk Management, Credit Suisse
Morocco has one of the most extensive and vibrant microfinance sectors in the Middle East/North Africa region, with roughly 800,000 clients and $60 million in outstanding loans. The country’s microfinance industry hasn’t always undergone steady growth. After years of early, strong growth in a relatively lightly regulated environment, Morocco’s microfinance industry underwent a period of crisis beginning around 2006. During this time default rates rose to worrisome levels and the financial soundness of a number of microfinance institutions became imperiled.
The country’s government moved swiftly, both over this period of time, and continuing to the present. It enacted a number of laws designed to improve industry regulation. In 2006, it formalized the country’s Central Bank’s regulatory authority over the industry through Law No. 34-03. The Bank then took a series of steps to effectively enforce the government’s laws and expand its oversight of the lending activities. These steps included enacting additional legislation, conducting on-site inspections, and, when necessary, intervening. In September 2009, additional regulatory requirements were issued through the Directive on the Governance of Microfinance Associations. The Directive provided further clarification of managerial obligations with regard to governance, internal controls, external audit, the management of credit, liquidity and operations risks, and transparency. Other government-led measures during these years following the 2006 crisis include enhancements to regulations regarding risk management practices and contract transparency, and formally defining industry client protection principles. Adopted in 2010, these client protection principles were outlined in the Microfinance Code of Ethics and incorporate the concepts that are enumerated in the Smart Campaign’s Client Protection Principles.
Facebook
Twitter
Recent Comments