Program
Technology and International Affairs
Securing Digital Financial Inclusion

People in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, and elsewhere are leapfrogging traditional brick-and-mortar banking in favor of mobile payments and other digital financial services. Yet these digital financial services platforms are vulnerable to cyber threats. Working with researchers in the Global South, Carnegie seeks to foster inclusive and secure digital finance.

How We Work

How We Work

Cybersecurity and Financial Inclusion (CyberFI) Working Group

Chaired by Carnegie, the CyberFI Working Group serves as a convening mechanism for organizations working on cybersecurity in the financial inclusion space. These meetings include stakeholders from across the development, financial services, and cybersecurity communities, with a particular focus on stakeholders in Africa.

Regional Center Implementation Work Stream

This work stream focuses specifically on the creation of regional resources centers across the African continent. Using the launch of the African Cybersecurity Resource Centre (ACRC) in Senegal as a starting point, this group seeks to expand and strengthen the regional ecosystem of financial inclusion efforts and help create future infrastructure projects in other countries across Africa. In this vein, CMU-Africa is working on a related project standing up a center in Kigali, Rwanda.

Co-Chairs: Jean-Louis Perrier (Suricate Solutions), Assane Gueye (CMU-Africa)

Policy and Research Advisory Group

This working group focuses on identifying key research and policy questions on strengthening cybersecurity and financial inclusion and commissioning research to address them. Our research agenda provides the foundation to assess which ongoing research projects align with core questions in the field, and which questions have not been adequately addressed.

Co-Chairs: Demet Canakci (Toronto Centre for Global Leadership in Financial Supervision), Noelle Cowling (Security Institute for Governance and Leadership in Africa), Steve Mambo (Yelbridges), Dirk Zetzsche (University of Luxembourg)

Cybersecurity and Financial Inclusion (CyberFI) Working Group

Chaired by Carnegie, the CyberFI Working Group serves as a convening mechanism for organizations working on cybersecurity in the financial inclusion space. These meetings include stakeholders from across the development, financial services, and cybersecurity communities, with a particular focus on stakeholders in Africa.

Regional Center Implementation Work Stream

This work stream focuses specifically on the creation of regional resources centers across the African continent. Using the launch of the African Cybersecurity Resource Centre (ACRC) in Senegal as a starting point, this group seeks to expand and strengthen the regional ecosystem of financial inclusion efforts and help create future infrastructure projects in other countries across Africa. In this vein, CMU-Africa is working on a related project standing up a center in Kigali, Rwanda.

Co-Chairs: Jean-Louis Perrier (Suricate Solutions), Assane Gueye (CMU-Africa)

Policy and Research Advisory Group

This working group focuses on identifying key research and policy questions on strengthening cybersecurity and financial inclusion and commissioning research to address them. Our research agenda provides the foundation to assess which ongoing research projects align with core questions in the field, and which questions have not been adequately addressed.

Co-Chairs: Demet Canakci (Toronto Centre for Global Leadership in Financial Supervision), Noelle Cowling (Security Institute for Governance and Leadership in Africa), Steve Mambo (Yelbridges), Dirk Zetzsche (University of Luxembourg)

article
A Digital Odyssey: The Convergence of Rapid Digitization, Population Dynamics, and Financial Risk in Namibia

Namibia’s rapidly growing digital finance sector offers policymakers an opportunity to develop processes and regulations that suit the country’s unique human geography and cultural context.

  • Elmarie Biermann
· April 2, 2024
article
Sandbox or Quicksand? An Analysis of Zimbabwe’s Fintech Regulatory Sandbox

A survey of participating fintech companies offers insight into the potential benefits and pitfalls of Zimbabwe’s regulatory sandbox.

  • Douglas Mapuranga
· February 7, 2024
article
Benefits and Risks of Bank and Savings Group Partnerships in Tanzania

When banks and savings groups form linkages, the two together can generate new financial products and accelerate inclusive finance. However, regulation is needed to address ensuing consumer and cybersecurity risks.

  • Emmanuel Mwanambali Mungongo
· January 8, 2024
paper
When the Rubber Meets the Road: Cybersecurity and Kenya’s Digital Superhighway

A series of cyber attacks devastated Kenya’s digital infrastructure in July. Now, with major new digital initiatives underway, the country must find a way to restore the public’s confidence in cybersecurity.

· October 12, 2023
article
The Limits of Accelerating Digital-Only Financial Inclusion

Famous mobile payments technology like Kenya’s M-PESA has revolutionized economic development by giving people new tools to access financial resources. But other important aspects of financial inclusion are getting neglected due to the growing overreliance on digital markers of financial inclusion.

  • Abraham Augustine
· July 13, 2023
event
Continental Cyber Security Policymaking: Implications of the Entry Into Force of the Malabo Convention for Digital Financial Systems in Africa
July 10, 2023

This event explored the significance of the entry into force of the Malabo Convention—the only cybersecurity convention in the world that combines cybersecurity, cyber crime, electronic transactions, and data protection in one legal instrument—with input from African cybersecurity and financial sector experts.

  • +5
  • Nanjira Sambuli
  • Nnenna Ifeanyi-Ajufo
  • Moctar O.A. Yedaly
  • Abdul-Hakeem Ajijola
  • David Satola
  • Laura Temesi
  • Olayinka David-West
  • Rosemary Koech-Kimwatu
commentary
Cyber Capacity Building for Secure Digital Financial Inclusion: A Critical Analysis of Prevailing Approaches

Bolstering cybersecurity has become an increased priority in the financial sector. Maintaining a secure cyberspace for the financial system has implications for digital financial inclusion, particularly among vulnerable populations.

· June 26, 2023
article
Securing Digital Finance in Post-Conflict Central African Republic

The Central African Republic faces many challenges in adopting digital financial solutions, but it can learn from other post-conflict countries and improve its approach.

  • Tomslin Samme-Nlar
· May 22, 2023
article
Cyber Resilience Must Focus On Marginalized Individuals, Not Just Institutions

Vulnerable or marginalized people in Africa depend on the digital economy to maintain their livelihoods and access critical services. Yet they could be driven from that economy if their cyber resilience isn’t strengthened.

· March 13, 2023
article
Digital Financial Inclusion and Security: The Regulation of Mobile Money in Ghana

Ghana's digital financial services industry, most notably the market for mobile money services, has grown significantly during the pandemic. To achieve full digital financial inclusion, however, the country still must build capacity, skills, trust, and security.

  • Nnenna Ifeanyi-Ajufo
· September 19, 2022
article
Cameroon’s Fintech Start-ups’ Attitudes Toward and Culture of Cybersecurity

A survey of Cameroonian fintech companies shows that they value cybersecurity but do not possess a unified strategy against cyber threats. Awareness campaigns and enhanced regulations could help safeguard the country's financial services sector.

  • Tomslin Samme-Nlar
· May 19, 2022
article
Cybersecurity in Nigeria’s Financial Industry: Enhancing Consumer Trust and Security

The Central Bank of Nigeria has lately made significant progress in enhancing cybersecurity for the country's financial sector—but increased awareness, capacity development, and collaboration are still necessary to ensure cybersecurity resilience.

  • Elizabeth Kolade
· May 13, 2022