• Aid policy
• Debt Management
• Education
• Financial sector
• • Improving Access to Financial Services
  • Financial Sector Strategy
  • Rural Financial Services
• Growth and Resources
• Health
• Poverty and Social Protection
• Private Sector
• Public Financial Management
• Public Management and Accountability
• Regional Development and Local Government
• Social Development
• Statistics

Rural Financial Services

Rural financial services have a potential to make a real difference in agricultural productivity, food security and poverty reduction. For rural people, access to medium and long term loans to invest in their business enterprises is critical. They also need a secure place to save their money so they can build up financial assets which are easily accessible in times of need. Services like payment systems and insurance products also help weather the individual and systemic shocks they often face. However, access to efficient, sustainable and widely accessible rural financial systems remains a major challenge in most developing countries and transition economies.

To ensure that financial services meet the requirements of individuals and businesses in rural areas it is important to identify the conditions required to best support the interaction between users and providers of financial services, as well as the factors affecting this relationship. OPM brings to this not only a strong understanding  of sectoral and cross-cutting issues affecting rural financial policies but also the capacity to field teams with specific practitioner expertise.

At the macro level, not only has OPM contributed to the theoretical debate about rural financial services, it has also provided practical support in the design, implementation and evaluation of comprehensive financial sector development strategies in several countries, including Zambia, Tanzania, Pakistan and Kenya. At the micro level, OPM recognises the importance of adapting financial products, making creative use of delivery mechanisms to reduce transaction costs and adopting new technologies to overcome the barriers both for providers and users of rural financial services. By analysing successful, innovative solutions which increase access to financial services in Africa, OPM has contributed to exploring new institutional and organisational structures that can be replicated to increase the provision of rural financial services. OPM is also often involved in projects where technology is the core factor in breaking down barriers to the provision of financial services, like the use of mobile banking in Southern Africa and its application to improve payment systems in remote rural areas.

Project Examples

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