Expanding digital remittances and microfinance products towards financial inclusion in The Gambia
Budget:
- Total:
- IFAD:
- Stanbic Bank:
- EUR 1,250,000
- EUR 300,000
- EUR 950,000
Sector:
- Private
Duration:
- 2022 ~ 2024
Implemented By:
Program:
Project Category:
- Diaspora Investments Projects
Target Groups:
- 2,500 remittance receivers, with a focus on rural youth and women, and 5,000 remittance senders.
Expanding digital remittances and microfinance products towards financial inclusion in The Gambia
Budget:
- Total: EUR 1,250,000
- IFAD: EUR 300,000
- Stanbic Bank: EUR 950,000
Sector:
- Private
Duration:
- 2022 ~ 2024
Implemented By:
Target Groups:
- 2,500 remittance receivers, with a focus on rural youth and women, and 5,000 remittance senders.
Program:
Project Category:
- Remittance project
Project Goal
To enhance the financial resilience and economic empowerment of remittance families through cost‑effective, digitalized remittance flows and innovations towards financial inclusion.
Implementing Partner
APS International Ltd is an International Money Transfer Operator and a registered Microfinance Institution in The Gambia, holding 12 per cent of the country’s market share, with 17 branches and 50 agents. It operates in 18 countries across the world. APS was the first Gambian remittance service provider (RSP) in the industry to introduce an online money transfer software and to use a mobile app.
Geographic Target
All six regions in The Gambia, with a particular focus on rural areas outside the greater Banjul Area, and its corridors from France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Spain and Sweden.
Project Objectives
Cost Reduction
Contribute to reducing international remittance transfer costs to The Gambia, and increase access to and use of transparent and gender-responsive low‑cost services.
Digitalization
Accelerate the use of digital products and strengthen the digital payments ecosystem to facilitate international remittance transfers to The Gambia.
Financial Inclusion
Leverage international remittances to The Gambia to enhance financial inclusion and resilience of senders and recipients.
Formalization
Promote greater access and use of formal international remittance transfers to The Gambia.
Project Description
IFAD is partnering with APS under the PRIME Africa initiative to accelerate the uptake of digital remittance services among remittance recipients, and of remittance-linked microfinance services.
Project Activities
The APS online remittance platform will be adapted to the needs of Gambian migrants in the six EU selected countries.
APS will extend its payout network by 100 agents in rural areas, equipped to onboard new customers and to cash out international remittances terminating into mobile wallets.
APS staff will promote microfinance products among Gambian remittance recipients, particularly current accounts, savings accounts and a financing product.
APS will push the switch from cash and informal remittances to mobile channels through marketing and awareness, particularly in rural areas. Financial education and inclusion through the use of social media, local radio stations and sponsored events, combined with a mobile banking caravan, will bring information on APS’s digital remittances, cash-in/cash-out and microfinance services to the last mile.
Expected Results
Supporting Sustainable Development Goals
- 5,000 new remittance senders in targeted EU countries will use the APS online platform to send remittances back home at a cost below 6 per cent including foreign exchange margins.
- APS online remittances will be received into mobile wallets and distributed through a network of 100 additional agents in rural Gambia
- 2,000 rural remittance recipients currently receiving remittances in cash or using informal channels, will be using wallet-based remittances and microfinance products.
- 500 rural recipients open savings accounts