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Lessons from Implementing a National Financial Inclusion Strategy

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2021-06-25
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2021-06-25
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A national financial-inclusion strategy (NFIS) helps policy makers, in coordination with a wide range of stakeholders, define objectives and outline a set of impactful, sequenced actions to accelerate progress toward achieving financial-inclusion goals. Achieving greater financial inclusion requires a deliberate, coordinated approach to identify barriers and opportunities, and a platform for diverse stakeholders to coordinate efforts to achieve shared financial-inclusion objectives. NFIS implementation typically involves operationalizing governance arrangements to oversee implementation, establishing a framework for monitoring and evaluation (M&E) to capture progress regularly, implementing action plans to achieve financial-inclusion targets, and making necessary adjustments to address changing landscapes. In 2018, the World Bank Group (WBG) released a toolkit that provides financial-sector authorities and other stakeholders with practical guidance on developing and operationalizing an NFIS. After launching an NFIS, many factors influence and shape progress and success, and no two countries travel the same path during NFIS implementation. This note aims to build on existing NFIS knowledge by sharing insights that have helped improve implementation postlaunch. When used together with the WBG NFIS Toolkit, this note aims to support countries that are working to draft, launch, and implement an NFIS effectively.
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World Bank. 2021. Lessons from Implementing a National Financial Inclusion Strategy. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/36213 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.
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