Welcome to CENFACS’ Online Diary!
12 September 2018
Post No. 56
The Week’s Contents
• Virtual Open Day and Hours: How They Work
• Summer Reports
• Abstract for the 61st Issue of FACS Newsletter, Autumn 2018 Issue
… and much more!
Key Messages from the Week’s Contents
~ Virtual Open Day and Hours (VODHs): How They Work
Our Virtual Open Day, which is every Fridays of September 2018, is held from 10 am to 2 pm.
You can access VOHs by contacting CENFACS.
You do not need to register with us.
Every Fridays, you can either email, phone or text between 10 am and 2 pm.
~ Summer Reports
Last week, we started to unlock or unpack our Summer holiday data and to prepare to tell our Summer holiday stories. This week, we are going further in putting our unlocked or unpacked data in support of Summer experiences or stories.
From this week until Thursday the 20th of September 2018, we are simply asking those who can to share with us and others their Summer experiences; experiences about what they did during the Summer break and think that it is useful for sharing.
For further details on the kinds of experiences or stories you can share or give, please read under the Main Developments section of this post.
~ FACS Newsletter, Autumn Issue, No. 61
The Autumn Issue for our bilingual newsletter FACS is entitled “Poverty Reduction through Mobile Money and Digital Financial Inclusion in Africa”
We have chosen this theme because of what the increasing use of mobile and digital technologies is trying to achieve for people in need, particularly but not exclusively for those of Africa.
The Issue looks at the extent to which money transfer and digital financial inclusion through these technologies, are trying to pull out people from poverty and hardships. Our focus will be on our areas of intervention in Africa with Africa-based Sister Organisations.
The theme of mobile money and digital financial inclusion is also in line with CENFACS New Media and Digital Communication programmes.
For more on these programmes, please contact CENFACS.
We have provided an abstract about this Issue and the kinds of contents that will make it.
For further details about the Issue, contact CENFACS.
Main Developments from the Week’s Contents
•• Abstract for the 61st Issue of FACS
The title of the 61st Issue of FACS is:
Poverty Reduction through Mobile Money and Digital Financial Inclusion
The abstract for the 61st Issue is as follows.
There is a number of works and evidences that show that mobile money and digital financial inclusion contribute to the relief of poverty worldwide and in Africa in particular. We are not disapproving these works or evidences. What we are trying to look at in this 61st Issue of CENFACS’ bilingual newsletter – FACS – is how we can make this contribution better and or how to capture the nature of the relationships between poverty reduction and mobile money on the one hand, between poverty reduction and digital financial inclusion.
The 61st Issue of FACS is a step forward in highlighting and including two important points regarding the contribution of mobile money and digital financial inclusion to poverty reduction.
The first point is about capturing the effects and impacts of mobile money and digital financial inclusion on poverty reduction.
There is a difference between accessing (or opening) mobile money accounts and transaction accounts on the one hand and reducing poverty on the other hand. Likewise, the record number of registered mobile money accounts is not always a reliable indicator of poverty reduction. Equally, the deployment of active mobile money accounts is not all the time a matching representation of poverty reduction. Furthermore, the BIG picture of mobile money economy in terms of volume of transactions is not always the Small images of poverty reduction and poor people’s stories.
For example, in its snapshot of the mobile money industry, the GSMA (1) – Groupe Speciale Mobile Association – indicates that there were 338.4 million of mobile money registered accounts for the whole Sub-Saharan Africa in 2017 (p.17).
From the above astronomic figures, one should not deduct that for the same year 338.4 million of people were lifted out of poverty. Opening a mobile money account does not necessary lead to poverty alleviation. Poverty and poverty alleviation are more complex things compared to what one may think.
The second point developed in the 61st Issue is about the successfulness of mobile money and digital financial inclusion as models for poverty relief.
Once one has made clear in their mindset that the link between mobile money and poverty reduction, or the link between digital financial inclusion and poverty reduction, is a complex issue; then one can now start to think if they are able to reduce poverty through mobile money and digital financial inclusion. In other words, how many people to be pulled out poverty so that mobile money and digital financial inclusion as models for poverty relief can be said successful? This success should be measured by the numbers of poor people out poverty and the improvement in their quality of life; but not by the volume of business transactions of their economies.
In the light of the above, the 61st Issue is about working with our Africa-based Sister Organisations to be careful about the claim or case for poverty reduction. It is about putting our feet on the grounds by getting the impact and data right about the people and communities who have been effectively relieved from poverty because mobile money and digital financial inclusion. This could lead to the redefinition of poverty and its multi-dimensional aspect in the digital era.
The 61st Issue engages poverty relief supporters and readers with the following contents:
Mobile money accounts versus traditional bank accounts in relation to poverty reduction; Mobile money and gender inclusion; Links between digital financial inclusion and poverty reduction; Mobile phone as a centre piece in the process of poverty reduction; Mobile-enabled insurance and savings services to reduce poverty; Mobile money markets and sustainable development for the poor in remote areas; Engaging Africa-based Sister Organisations with the links between mobile money and poverty reduction; Projets d’inclusion financière, de numérique et d’argent mobile pour la réduction de la pauvreté en Afrique, Mobile credit services and eligibility criteria for the poor, especially for women; Financial literacy skills and digital inclusion to reduce poverty; Meeting the financial needs of the poor through cash digitalisation etc.
The above engaging contents will help to explore ways of capturing the effects and impacts of mobile money and digital financial inclusion on poverty reduction on the one hand; and finding out how successful are mobile money and digital financial inclusion as models for poverty relief in pulling as many as possible people out of poverty.
To reserve a copy or to get further details about the Issue no. 61, please contact CENFACS.
(1) GSM Association, 2017 State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money, 2018
•• 2018 September Advice service continues…
as planned for both UK and Africa projects. We have provided below basic activities making the contents of advice services. While this Advice-giving support is running, we are conducting Summer 2018 Reports as well.
The following are the areas covered by CENFACS‘ September 2018 Advice-giving Activities
- Areas of Advice for Individuals we cover
We can provide advisory support on a wide range of issues which includes:
post-regional economic integration and economic transition skills, financial literacy and information, consumption and buying information, conversion of technical skills, domestic violence, HIV/AIDS awareness, education and training, educational development of children, cultural barriers, knowledge and respect of the British rule of law, opportunities for enterprises and credit access, social integration and behaviour, self-help development projects etc.
- Areas of Advice for Organisations we cover
We can provide advisory support on the following areas:
project planning and development, investment in capacity building and development, resource mobilisation for African Sister Organisations for the Post-REI (Regional Economic Integration) times, sources of international fundraising, climate finance and digital finance, online fundraising strategies etc.
You can request advice online by just filling an advice form at www.cenfacs.org.uk/services-activities and by posting it to CENFACS and CENFACS will get back to you.
•• Summer 2018 Reporting In Your Own Words
The 2018 Summer Reporting activity is a further experience reporting, sharing, learning and development opportunity for those who have not yet informed us about the outcomes of projects pending for reporting, personal experiences to be shared, lessons to learn and development trends to spot.
Giving Development Experiences, Stories & Reports about Summer 2018
As we are nearly reaching the end of Summer 2018, we would like our users and supporters as well as those who sympathise with CENFACS’ cause to share with us and others their experiences, stories and reports over the following
∴ Run, Play & Vote projects
You can feedback the outcomes or Action-Results of your Run, Play and Vote projects if you ran for poverty relief during Summer 2018 (or organised a Run activity), played the CENFACS League For Poverty Relief and or have already voted your 2018 African and International Poverty Relief Manager.
∴ Volunteering & Creation Stories
You can also share your volunteering stories with us and others if you did volunteer during the Summer break. Likewise, if you had any creation adventure you can tell us about it.
∴ Summer programmes: Happiness and Appeal projects
Summer programmes are another area of feedback. You may prefer to report on your use of Happiness projects and your response to our Humanitarian Relief Appeal during Summer 2018. If this is the case, then report your experiences on these areas.
∴ Other Experiences & Stories Reporting
Finally, you can report or feedback on any moving experience or transformative story you have had during Summer 2018; experience or story you think may be of help to us and others.
For example if you did Trending in Poverty Reduction (i.e. following the direction of poverty reduction) through Tourism with us or alone, you can report this as well.
You can report your experience via e-mail, over phone and through social media networks or channels of communication (e.g Twitter).
Using less papers but e-mails or even online technologies when responding to us is in line with our sustainability policy and practice on saving the environment, which is part of our Environment and Conservation activity.
Also, as we are in CENFACS’ Year of the Local People or the Local Year Campaign, we would be more than happier to hear any stories that involve local people where they happened.
Thank you for supporting us with your Summer 2018 experience, story and report In Your Own Words.
FOR ONLY £1, YOU CAN SUPPORT CENFACS AND CENFACS’ PROJECTS, JUST GO TO http://cenfacs.org.uk/supporting-us/
Thank you for visiting CENFACS website and reading this post.
Thank you as well to those who made or make comments about our weekly posts.
We look forward to receiving your regular visits and continuing support throughout 2018.
With many thanks
