In the Somali region of Ethiopia, host to several refugee camps, less than 8% of residents report having access to financial systems, according to the most recent Ethiopia Living Standards Measurement Study (LSMS) data. Expanding financial access has the potential to reduce poverty and is important to food security—and in refugee hosting areas, improving financial systems can help local markets grow and function more smoothly, and thus better integrate refugees with the host community.
In response to this challenge, IFPRI researchers, working with Dadimos Development Consultants, are collaborating with the Strengthening Host and Refugee Populations in Ethiopia (SHARPE) market systems development program to better understand and improve the workings of the financial market system in the Somali region.
To try to increase financial access, particularly among women and refugees, SHARPE has partnered with Shabelle Bank (formerly Somali Micro-Finance Institution) to promote the HelloCash mobile money system in two parts of Ethiopia's Somali region that host refugee camps: Jijiga and Dollo Ado. Now, a new pilot program designed by IFPRI, SHARPE, and Shabelle Bank will test a community referral system to encourage more women and refugees to sign up for and use HelloCash, and examine how various various targeted incentives for referrers work. Read more >>