FINANCE, COMPETITIVENESS & INNOVATION …documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/331891528817424815/...3. Existing financial education programs in all three counties were identified that

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Programme d’Éducation Financière

Programme « Argent contre travail »

SSN Guinée

Manuel du Formateur

GUINÉE, Juin 2017

FINANCE, COMPETITIVENESS & INNOVATION GLOBAL PRACTICE

FINANCIAL EDUCATION PROGRAM (FEP) in Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone

Guinea Needs Assessment Report

June 2018

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© 2018 International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank Group

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Washington DC 20433

Telephone: 202-473-1000

Internet: www.worldbank.org

This work is a product of the staff of The World Bank with external contributions. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this work do not necessarily reflect the views of The World Bank, its Board of Executive Directors, or the governments they represent.

The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this work. The boundaries, colors, denominations, and other information shown on any map in this work do not imply any judgment on the part of The World Bank concerning the legal status of any territory or the endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries.

Rights and Permissions The material in this work is subject to copyright. Because the World Bank encourages dissemination of its knowledge, this work may be reproduced, in whole or in part, for noncommercial purposes as long as full attribution to this work is given.

Any queries on rights and licenses, including subsidiary rights, should be addressed to the Office of the Publisher, The World Bank, 1818 H Street NW, Washington, DC 20433, USA; fax: 202-522-2422; e-mail: [email protected].

Cover photos: © Étude Économique Conseil (EEC Canada). Used with the permission of Étude Économique Conseil (EEC Canada). Further permission required for reuse.

Acknowledgements This needs assessment report was prepared by a team led by Siegfried Zottel (Senior Financial Sector Specialist)1 from the World Bank Group’s (WBG) Finance, Competitiveness & Innovation Global Practice and included Fares Khoury (Economist and President of Etude Economique Conseil, EEC Canada).

Douglas Pearce (Practice Manager, GFM2B), Massimo Cirasino (Advisor, GFM2B), and Harish Natarajan (Lead Financial Sector Specialist, GFM2B) provided overall guidance to the team. The team is grateful to the peer reviewers of this content – Suleiman Namara (Senior Social Protection Economist, GSP07), Laura Ralston (Economist, GSP07) and Mack Capehart Mulbah (Social Protection Specialist, GSP07) - for their valuable support and comments.

The team benefited from the valuable inputs provided by Jessica Lee Massie (Financial Education Consultant, GFM2B). We also express our gratitude to Julie Lee (Financial Education Consultant, GFM2B) for providing technical advice at the start of this project, as well as to Giuseppe Zampaglione (Senior Social Protection Specialist, GSP07) and Fanta Toure (Social Protection Specialist, GSP07) for their support and sound advice at every stage of the development of this content in financial education.

The team expresses its deep gratitude to the Guinean authorities, including the Ministry of the Economy and Finance, and more particularly to its Productive Social Safety Nets Project (PFSP), for their cooperation and collaboration during the needs assessment phase as well as during the testing and piloting of this content. In particular, the team wants to extend its sincere gratitude to the following PFSP officials and experts who provided invaluable support and strategic guidance in the development of this content: Mr. Bah Abdoulaye Wansan, Coordinator, Ms. M'Bambé Sakho , Specialist in Accompanying Measures, Ibrahima Kourouma, Consultant, Hamidou Diallo, HIMO Component Manager, and Ms. Nagnaien Keita Traoré, Socio-Organizing Manager.

The team also wishes to express its gratitude to the core team of EEC Canada and its team in the field, led by Isabelle Leyder (Deputy Project Director). We are also grateful to Zied Naffouti (Country Manager at EEC Canada) and Nicolas Megelas (Regional Coordinator) and to all members of the EEC Canada team in Guinea whose efforts and commitments have made this project possible. The valuable collaboration of Linda Bergeron from Développement International Desjardins (DID) has given this material a pragmatic orientation that enhances its usability.

The preparation of this report was carried out within the framework of the National Payments System Development in Ebola Affected Countries project (P155002) funded by a grant from Ebola Rapid Response Trust Fund (ERRTF).

1 Can be contacted at: [email protected]

NEEDS ASSESSMENT REPORT GUINEA

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TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................. 1 2 PURPOSE OF THE NEEDS ASSESSMENT ......................................................................... 1

2.1 NEEDS ASSESSMENT MAIN OBJECTIVE ........................................................................................................ 1 2.2 NEEDS ASSESSMENT METHODOLOGY ......................................................................................................... 1

2.2.1 Detailed methodology .................................................................................................................. 1 2.2.2 Sampling of focus group participants ........................................................................................... 2

3 KEY ELEMENTS ON TARGETED GROUP IN GUINEA ............................................................ 3 3.1 CASH FOR WORK BENEFICIARIES PROFILE .................................................................................................. 3

3.1.1 Profile of beneficiaries ................................................................................................................. 3 3.1.2 Beneficiaries Profile and Curriculum Considerations ................................................................... 3 3.1.3 Financial knowledge and inclusion of beneficiaries ..................................................................... 4 3.1.4 Training considerations ............................................................................................................... 5

3.2 UNDERBANKED AND UNBANKED POPULATIONS PROFILE .............................................................................. 6 3.2.1 Profile of beneficiaries ................................................................................................................. 6 3.2.2 Financial knowledge and inclusion of beneficiaries ..................................................................... 6 3.2.3 Knowledge, skills and abilities of beneficiaries ............................................................................ 6 3.2.4 Training considerations ............................................................................................................... 7

4 MAIN ACTIVITIES OF (FINANCIAL) EDUCATION FOR TARGETED GROUPS .............................. 7 4.1.1 Best practices for training of beneficiaries ................................................................................... 7 4.1.2 Proposed timeline ........................................................................................................................ 7 4.1.3 Potential financial education topics and rationale for recommendation ....................................... 7

5 FINANCIAL EDUCATION RADIO CAMPAIGN .................................................................... 10 6 OTHER MEDIA PARTICIPATING IN FE ACTIVITIES ............................................................ 10 7 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS ........................................................................ 11 APPENDIX 1. LIST OF INDIVIDUAL MEETINGS HELD .............................................................. 12 APPENDIX 2. KEY INFORMANT INTERVIEWS - LIST OF PARTICIPANTS AND SUMMARY .............. 13 APPENDIX 3. FOCUS GROUP MEETINGS - LIST OF PARTICIPANTS AND SUMMARY ................... 29


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TABLES TABLE 1. BENEFICIARIES PROFILE AND CURRICULUM CONSIDERATIONS 3 TABLE 2. ACTIVITIES AND ESTIMATED TIME REQUIRED 7 TABLE 3. MAIN TOPICS BY TARGET GROUP 8 TABLE 4. LIST OF INDIVIDUAL MEETINGS HELD 12 TABLE 5. SUMMARY OF FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSIONS HELD IN GUINEA – OVERVIEW OF BLOCKS 14 TABLE 6. SUMMARY OF FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSIONS HELD IN GUINEA – GENERAL INTERVIEW (I) 15 TABLE 7. SUMMARY OF FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSIONS HELD IN GUINEA – OVERVIEW OF BLOCKS (II) 17 TABLE 8. SUMMARY OF FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSIONS HELD IN GUINEA – GENERAL INTERVIEW (III) 19 TABLE 9. SUMMARY OF FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSIONS HELD IN GUINEA – GENERAL INTERVIEW (IV) 20 TABLE 10. SUMMARY OF FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSIONS HELD IN GUINEA – OVERVIEW OF BLOCKS (III) 21 TABLE 11. SUMMARY OF FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSIONS HELD IN GUINEA – OVERVIEW OF BLOCKS (IV) 22 TABLE 12. SUMMARY OF FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSIONS HELD IN GUINEA – MEETING WITH CENTRAL BANK (I) 24 TABLE 13. SUMMARY OF FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSIONS HELD IN GUINEA – MEETING WITH CENTRAL BANK (II) 25 TABLE 14. SUMMARY OF FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSIONS HELD IN GUINEA – MEETING WITH CENTRAL BANK (III) 26 TABLE 15. SUMMARY OF FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSIONS HELD IN GUINEA – MEETING WITH CENTRAL BANK (IV) 27 TABLE 12. CASH FOR WORK: PRODUCTIVE SOCIAL SAFETY NETS PROJECT BENEFICIARIES – FINANCIAL CAPABILITY FOCUS GROUP

DISCUSSION 30 TABLE 13. UNDERBANKED AND UNBANKED – FINANCIAL CAPABILITY FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSION 32

FIGURES FIGURE 1. AREAS SELECTED FOR THE FG DISCUSSIONS WITH CFW AND UNBANKED BENEFICIARIES 2


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1 INTRODUCTION

The recent Ebola crisis in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea required mobilization of a large number of health and other related workers (e.g. contact tracers) to respond to the crisis. In addition, to deal with shock associated by the disruption of economic activity, authorities needed to ensure and/or expand the social support programs. In both cases, a key challenge was to provide swift, secure, auditable and low-cost disbursement of payments to recipients throughout the country.

In response to these challenges, the World Bank Group (WBG) launched the project Supporting National Payment Systems in Ebola Affected Countries (SNPS), to provide technical assistance to current interventions in the Ebola Emergency Response and future initiatives as the countries recover from the crisis. The Financial Capability component of the SNPS aims at improving the chances for successful implementation of payments and increasing confidence in new payment approaches (phone-based, cards, etc.). Under this Financial Capability component, the WBG will provide targeted technical assistance to social protection programs in the three countries to develop tailored financial education modules for their target populations and strengthen the capacity of their trainers to effectively deliver financial education.

Against this background, the Financial Education Content Development Project in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea aims to develop tailored financial education modules for the target populations all three countries. The primary target populations across the three countries are:

• beneficiaries of social protection programs, such as cash transfers and public works (cash for work) projects.

• unbanked and under-banked populations

2 PURPOSE OF THE NEEDS ASSESSMENT

2.1 NEEDS ASSESSMENT MAIN OBJECTIVE

The needs assessment portion of the Financial Education Content Development Project in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea outlines the needs specific to each country in terms of financial inclusion.

The main objective of the needs assessment was to conduct a detailed qualitative analysis of and make recommendations for optimal financial education delivery mechanisms (i.e. classroom training, multimedia presentation, individual consulting, etc.) and financial education module content for each country, allowing for the development of national-scale financial awareness or sensitization campaigns for consumers.

The needs assessment will furthermore outline the expected outcome of additional financial education campaigns such as, for example, potentially promoting fundamental principles for sound personal/household money management, raising awareness on the types of financial services available, and sensitizing the public on their rights and responsibilities as consumers of financial services.

The module on financial education will either be added to or expanded under already existing face-to-face training programs targeting beneficiaries of social protection programs.

2.2 NEEDS ASSESSMENT METHODOLOGY

2.2.1 DETAILED METHODOLOGY In order to thoroughly conduct the needs assessment phase of the Financial Education Content Development Project in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea, the following detailed methodology was used. The process involved qualitative research in the respective countries, consultations with local stakeholders, and desk-based research.


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1. An assessment of the capacities of the various implementation partners, specifically the Cellule des Filets Sociaux (CFS) was performed to deliver financial education trainings (including staff capacity and technological constraints)

2. Qualitative research was performed by way of informant interviews with key stakeholders such as the Central Banks and financial service providers, as well as through focus group discussions with beneficiaries of various of social protection programs, and unbanked and under-banked populations

3. Existing financial education programs in all three counties were identified that were relevant to target populations and could be scaled-up or complemented with a new module

4. Field research was performed in order to appropriately contextualize the materials for the local population

2.2.2 SAMPLING OF FOCUS GROUP PARTICIPANTS Beneficiaries of CfW transfers were selected by the Cellule Filets Sociaux Productifs (CFS) of the Ministère de l’Economie et des Finances, Stratégie de Réduction de la Pauvreté to participate in focus group discussions as part of the financial education needs assessment from Conakry and Labé. For underbanked and unbanked populations, participants were selected from Conakry, Kankan and Labé. Figure 1 below shows where participants were chosen to participate in the focus group discussions.

FIGURE 1. AREAS SELECTED FOR THE FG DISCUSSIONS WITH CFW AND UNBANKED BENEFICIARIES

Source: http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/map/guinea-map2.htm

CfW focus group participants

Unbanked and underbanked focus group participants


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3 KEY ELEMENTS ON TARGETED GROUP IN GUINEA

3.1 CASH FOR WORK BENEFICIARIES PROFILE

3.1.1 PROFILE OF BENEFICIARIES The "Filets Sociaux Productifs" Project or Cash for Work (CfW) is coordinated by the Secretariat of the Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS / PS) under the Economy and Finance State Ministry. The project is divided into three components, first, a public works program with high intensity labor focusing on youth and women. Second, pilot cash transfers for improving human capital and finally, project coordination and institutional capacity building.

In order to thoroughly understand the profile and needs of this group, beneficiaries of CfW transfers were selected by the Cellule Filets Sociaux Productifs (CFS) of the Ministère de l’Economie et des Finances, Stratégie de Réduction de la Pauvreté to participate in focus group discussions as part of the financial education needs assessment. Given the CfW project puts special focus on women and youth, selected participants in the focus group discussions were 65% female and aged between 25 and 45 years old. Beneficiaries of this program will also be targeting Conakry and the regional capitals, therefore participants were furthermore chosen from the cities of Conakry and Labé. In general, participants have various levels of schooling varying from elementary to university levels with half of them unemployed while the other half owned a business. Most participants have a bank quite close to home and benefited from accounts at these institutions, even though they do not often use them and continued to perform most transactions in cash. Furthermore, most participants feel they do not have enough information regarding financial products offered at banks or for those that have accounts, how to properly use them.

3.1.2 BENEFICIARIES PROFILE AND CURRICULUM CONSIDERATIONS

TABLE 1. BENEFICIARIES PROFILE AND CURRICULUM CONSIDERATIONS

Profile Curriculum Recommendation / Consideration

Cash for Work program, with public works, cash transfers, and human/institutional capacity building (three-pronged approach)

- Content should have a basis of managing the salary (cash for work) or cash transfer (simple budgeting)

- For the capacity building section, a simple SWOT analysis could be used to help participants think about how new skills could lead to increased earning capacity (if I understand the third prong correctly)

65% female (so mix of male/female) and 25-45 years, approximately, in larger areas with lots of market coverage (Conakry and Labé – lots of commerce in both places)

Higher levels of literacy, though varied (elementary through some university)

- Content has the potential to include lessons with more calculations and reading (although do not veer too close to the school-based type of lesson!) and more sophisticated content on business planning

- Opportunities for examples on commerce in Conakry and the Fouta Djallon (Labé) are more varied, therefore simple market research sessions could be included2 - the sheer amount of commerce and travel hubs at Conakry and Labé give tons of potential for business

2 Terminology (i.e. “third world” is outdated) but this is a great resource to adapt and update. “Appropriate Business

Skills for Third World Women” http://files.peacecorps.gov/library/SB104.pdf


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Profile Curriculum Recommendation / Consideration

Lack of planning behaviors on any timeframe (“Inshallah attitude” - where they like to believe things simply work out. People don’t want to think about financial topics and prefer instead to simply hope for the best.)

Short-term perspective on money management, little long-term planning (reactive vs. proactive behaviors), spend money “before” it comes in

- Start sessions on planning with an overview of income (both from money earned from cash for work and/or cash transfers) – that is, separate out sessions on earning and spending before moving on to budgeting

- Basic record-keeping for personal/household finance should be part of the planning section of the curriculum and added to content

- Very low level budgeting sessions, leading from day-to-day planning, to weekly planning, and then to thinking seasonally

Save mostly at home and deal in cash

However, banks are accessible and often not located far from beneficiaries’ homes/businesses

(This is from my own experience – very high levels of corruption and lack of transparency in the financial sector, leading to low trust)

- An early session on short- and long-term goal-setting to set a rationale in the minds of participants for finding a way to save / set aside that works for them

- Making spending decisions (as mentioned earlier with the MFO module) session

- A session with a comparison of saving at home vs. saving in a formal institution, and the advantages and disadvantages of each, should be developed (especially emphasizing that saving in a bank makes it more difficult for family to have access to any extra money – very important, as family will very often ask for any leftover money in a relative’s pocket)

- For those working, teaching the “Rule of Thumb” to save a small amount every day or every week at the bank would be useful (or save the first sale of the day each day…)

- Even a visit from a number of bank representatives could be useful

Because earning and/or receiving money is part of the program, investing as well as saving are potential activities for beneficiaries

- Simple investment should be part of the content (whether by household or by group) as well as IGAs, as income building will be essential for financial stability

Borrow from relatives and friends when the need arises - Planning to borrow wisely session - Responsibilities of borrowing session (on time, in full, and

fulfilling all terms and conditions – whether from a person or from a bank)

Do understand negotiation to some extent - Introductory session on financial service providers (saving and

borrowing) could be helpful for this group

Primarily get new information from neighbors, local councillors and village chiefs (low access to mobile phone and to radio reported)

- Start education delivery with a partner: consider training local councillors, imams (they represent important centers of information and knowledge in communities and are sometimes (not always) viewed as less corrupt), trusted members of women’s groups (this is quite important in Guinea where girls are often taken advantage of by older men) and village chiefs during the TOT phase, and make sure they are part of at least some level of the training, given their status in the community as information hubs

3.1.3 FINANCIAL KNOWLEDGE AND INCLUSION OF BENEFICIARIES

Saving and Use of Financial Services Given their profile and low level of knowledge and understanding of formal financial products, participants mostly save money at home as they feel this is the most secure method allowing them to get access to their cash at any moment without constraints. Most participants understand the need to save or at least set some money aside, but once they allocated a certain amount to save, there seem to always be unexpected expenses that come quickly and frequently requiring them to spend and destroy their savings. Participants are convinced that saving could provide them some quietude, but the fluctuations and low level of their


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income doesn’t allow for it, according to them. In fact, most participants feel they need more money to be able to benefit from formal financial products such as a bank account. In Guinea, savings accounts are available but generally geared towards government workers or those with a high paying stable job. The social cause behind this is that bank workers are much more receptive to this type of user and very prejudiced against those not looking like they have the means to save. Furthermore, mutual or burial fund societies are not present enough in Guinea to offer a feasible alternative.

Spending, Money Management and Budgeting In terms of daily money management, it seems that participants understand the use and importance of planning. Without "forced mechanisms" for saving however, they will never be able to follow a regular plan for saving as “something will always come up”. For most participants, money is spent as it comes in with only very few of them being able to set money aside, yet most of them express that they have a clear idea of what they need to spent money on. Spending is typically decided days in advance, as most participants live from “cash flow to cash flow”. Nevertheless, most participants understand the need to put a portion of their income aside for unexpected expenses and try to set aside some money, even if this means sacrificing food and other household expenses.

Budgeting and Borrowing When it comes to management of daily expenses, participants confirm they are trying to plan as much as they can despite their very limited resources. They always try to establish priorities and put “family needs first”. When they run short of money situation, the majority of participants confirmed that they ask help from family (large family), secondly from friends. Some participants have talked about “grocery-credit”, meaning asking their grocer for credit until the end of the month so that they may afford to purchase necessities.

As for loans and debt, most participants explained they would usually turn to family or friends when they needed money. Typically, participants in Guinea do not borrow money to pay off debts. In fact, some will try to convince their creditors to wait, so to avoid having to get more debts elsewhere. Most participants confirmed they currently had debt and the recurring themes are the inability to pay off current debt, being overwhelmed and having exceeded borrowing capacity.

Apart from one participant who made a request to borrow from a bank, the rest of the participants never submitted a loan application. The main reason being that banks asks for too many guarantees, the bureaucracy involved is complicated. They also mentioned their inability to get required documents such as land title documents.

What is interesting, however, is participants’ understanding that they can renegotiate loans if they find themselves in a situation where they cannot pay an installment.

Risk Management and Preparing for the Unexpected As for risk management and forecasting of emergencies, all participants showed they had “no control of such situations”. Unexpected expenses and contingencies are simply not things they like or want to think about or prepare for, as they feel they would be unable to cover the expense anyway. They do feel that their family or friends will come to their rescue in these cases which likely contributes to their complacency. The overwhelming majority in fact relies on help from their social circle. They see this as a treasure and feel safe through this social bond. Phrases such as: "In Africa, it is not like in Europe, people here help each other and it is mostly an obligation”. It is therefore important to fully grasp this dimension and use financial education training to break people out of this mentality and to explain the usefulness of loan instruments to grow a business, for instance. Planning is furthermore not part of Guinean culture where they like to believe things simply work out. Participants in general kept saying they didn’t want to think about financial topics and preferred instead to simply hope for the best.

3.1.4 TRAINING CONSIDERATIONS For training efforts, participants in the CfW program will receive life skills training in six topics, one of which will be financial education. CFS will utilize their own group of master trainers to deliver financial education modules to CfW beneficiaries. CFS have already begun training a group of 20 master trainers which will in turn train partner NGOs without putting specific emphasis on their education level or otherwise. They have


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allocated 3 trainers per micro-project under their supervision. Training sessions will take place once a week, preferably on the weekly pay day.

The total duration of the financial education module will be 4 hours. The CfW project has a 60-day duration for workers and the overall training program will consist of 12 modules of 2 hours each. Financial education will consist of 2 modules and each module will last 2 hours, for a total of 4 hours of financial education.

3.2 UNDERBANKED AND UNBANKED POPULATIONS PROFILE

3.2.1 PROFILE OF BENEFICIARIES Underbanked and unbanked populations are an important reality in Guinea and therefore special focus group discussions were organized to adequately understand the needs of this group. In addition, the Banque Centrale de la République de Guinée (BCRG) recently developed regulations on mobile money and they expressed enthusiastic support of the sensitization campaign which aims to increase consumer understanding and trust in mobile money and encourage willingness to try using the service.

Participants that were part of this focus group vary in age with the youngest having 20 years and going up to 65 years old. They have relatively high level of education (up to university) and most if not all of them have a permanent occupation. Furthermore, most participants have a good knowledge of conventional financial products though they all lack enough information to be able to properly take advantage of mobile money and mobile financial services.

3.2.2 FINANCIAL KNOWLEDGE AND INCLUSION OF BENEFICIARIES Saving and Use of Financial Services Most participants declare being able to set a small amount of money aside at the bank or at home. Interestingly, those that mention saving money regularly also do so at the bank, whereas those that do so irregularly, keep their money at home, with friends or even for some, in mobile money accounts. Participants however mention their expenses are always paid in cash, and it would be important for this group of people to begin adopting retail mobile money services to make more secure payments, not to mention transferring money.

Most participants understand the need to track their savings and declare usually knowing how much money they had available for daily spending. Unexpected expenses do not seem to arise all that often and participants are usually able to cover them, without needed additional support. On the other hand, participants mention that they are the main bread-winner of their family and therefore are responsible for paying for the entire (typically big) family’s various expenses. This hinders their ability to budget and plan where their money goes.

3.2.3 KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES OF BENEFICIARIES Unfortunately, underbanked or unbanked participants lack important knowledge, skills and abilities in terms of mobile money services. Many participants did not know this service existed or how to use it. Others didn’t quite understand the advantage of using mobile money or any other type of financial service given their very low income and fees to use any type of service. Because the literacy level of the underbanked and unbanked was typically quite low, some participants furthermore lacked basic numeracy skills. It is therefore of prime importance for the training module to take into account their level of understanding and skill of conventional products and explain the advantages and ways of using mobile money services.

It would finally seem that even though these participants having a higher income than participants in the CfW focus group, for example, they are relied on heavily for help from their family and entourage. This undue social pressure puts them in no better situation than if they earned a meager income. It is therefore of prime importance to also educate these people to budget and manage their expenses rigorously in order to avoid having to waste money every which way. Though they will not change their mentality, education can bring them to understand how to manage expectations and cash flows in a way that benefits them.


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3.2.4 TRAINING CONSIDERATIONS As a majority of participants to this focus group have declared regularly listening to the radio and TV, and as discussions with the main radio stations of the country have indicated, delivering financial education modules through this medium would be the most effective way of reaching the population. The BCRG has in fact said during various meetings with them, that they will explore options for funding to air the radio campaign. The BCRG furthermore discussed approaching mobile money providers and potentially commercial banks to contribute funding for airing these shows. However, the BCRG believes that funding from mobile money providers may be contingent upon their involvement in the development of the awareness raising campaign. A potential first step is therefore to present mobile money providers with a draft concept note for the sensitization campaign.

The various radio programs will be aired in Pular, Soussou, Makinké and French in order to be understood by a maximum of listeners, and will last for a short period of time (5 minutes) with the objective of educating listeners on subjects related to mobile money such as protecting PIN numbers, performing transfers, making electronic payments and build knowledge to be able to perform transactions safely. Furthermore, it would be useful to touch on subjects such as financial planning, prioritizing expenses and learning about saving.

4 MAIN ACTIVITIES OF (FINANCIAL) EDUCATION FOR TARGETED GROUPS

4.1.1 BEST PRACTICES FOR TRAINING OF BENEFICIARIES Beneficiaries of the CfW program will receive financial education training as part of the wider training sessions organized by CFS which they will have to attend in order to benefit from the cash transfers, and the training will be delivered directly by the PRS. As for the unbanked and underbanked, the BCRG will be in charge of airing various radio programs to bring awareness to the subject of mobile money in particular.

4.1.2 PROPOSED TIMELINE Table 2 below presents the remaining activities related to the CfW program until the Training of Trainers and an estimate of the time they require to complete. It is noteworthy to mention that the availability of stakeholders affects directly the lead time and completion of each of these tasks.

TABLE 2. ACTIVITIES AND ESTIMATED TIME REQUIRED

Activity Estimated time required Content development 2 weeks Content translation 2.5 weeks Pilot 1 week Training of Trainers 1 week

4.1.3 POTENTIAL FINANCIAL EDUCATION TOPICS AND RATIONALE FOR RECOMMENDATION Main topics by target group should include the various potential topics outlined in Table 3.


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TABLE 3. MAIN TOPICS BY TARGET GROUP

Program (country)

Objectives Profile / characteristics of target group

Observations during FGs or KI or other basis – on attitudes, behavior or capabilities

Rationale Potential Topics

SSN – CfW

Guinea

Increase knowledge and skills of beneficiaries to manage personal/household finance, in particular, managing cash flow, saving and use of financial services. Financial education will complement the business skills/entrepreneurship training they will receive.

Strengthen understanding of payment mechanism(s) for project, if needed. (CfW program has plans to pilot different types of payment mechanisms, including mobile money, MFI, bank, but it is unclear as to time frame of when it will happen)

- Low revenue - Low level of education, at

times completely inexistent

- No use of banking or financial services

- Essentially young people - Most are unemployed or

have irregular work - No financial planning, not

only when it comes to budgeting, but in most activities in general

- No basic knowledge of saving or banking services

- Will to show they are poor and unable to access financial services or benefit from CfW programs or other such schemes

- Some were called to receive cash transfers but never received them. Some claim their cash transfers were “redirected” to others

- Tend to adopt a passive attitude waiting to receive monetary help without any personal contribution or effort (free money)

- Complete helplessness and despair with regards to banks in general

- They tend to have no career objectives or prospect to improve their future

- Generally people think of fighting to survive and help the family unit, not to plan for future gain

They don’t know the various savings options available nor how to choose the most appropriate one for them

Need to rationalize expenses and have a clear view of what they spend and make to be able to prepare for the future

They don’t understand that it is possible to manage irregular income and expenditures

They must understand they actually have the possibility to get a loan and how to manage it properly so it doesn’t become a nightmare as most are afraid of

Explanation that many financial services exits and that they have different access points

Provision and depth of borrowing/credit topic will depend if and how beneficiaries access credit – to be confirmed with national counterpart)

Identifying and creating plans for savings goals

Identifying obstacles and strategies for saving

Developing budgets and determining spending priorities

Advantages and disadvantages of taking loans, understanding loan terms, and responsibilities and rights as borrowers, avoiding over-indebtedness

Options for types of financial services for saving and credit and how to evaluate or determine which service is right for them


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Program (country)

Objectives Profile / characteristics of target group

Observations during FGs or KI or other basis – on attitudes, behavior or capabilities

Rationale Potential Topics

Introduction to digital financial services (if used as a payment mechanism in the program and/or availability of type of service in their communities.

Unbanked and Underbanked

Broad base of consumers – low-income consumers in particular. Could look at focusing on youth as early adopters in urban areas and rural areas (subject to how widespread agent networks are in rural areas)

Guinea

Increase awareness and understanding of mobile money/e-payments and potential ways it can address money management needs that are not addressed in current, traditional brick and mortar supply of financial services.

Increase trust and willingness to try using mobile money and ease acceptance of non-cash payments

Increase understanding of m-wallet linked to bank accounts. This may also lead to an increase in awareness of potential benefits of bank accounts (secondary).

- Low income group - Varied education level

(some have no education, other have higher levels of education)

- No use of financial services or banking services

- Low understanding of technology

- Different age groups

- Will to show they are capable to participate and learn

- Good behavior of learning (will to learn) and improve situation

- Accepting of new technologies and ways of doing things

- Despite will to learn, they don’t have enough knowledge to use mobile phones and therefore mobile money

- Strong demand for money management training

- Afraid of new technologies because of stories of piracy, need to build trust in the system

- They very much like the idea of being able to perform transactions at a distance without having to be physically present or wait in line

Introduction to what mobile money is and how it works

Practical application or use cases for mobile money with respect to helping them to manage, move or store their money.

Complementary tips on budgeting, saving and planning for emergencies

How transact safely, e.g. safeguarding PIN code

Linkage of mobile money/m-wallets to bank accounts – key features, potential uses (will also likely need to also do some sensitization on bank accounts as part of this)


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5 FINANCIAL EDUCATION RADIO CAMPAIGN

The main radio stations to eventually approach are:

• Espace FM • Nostalgie FM • RKS FM • Continental FM • Community radio stations

These radio segments would consist in

• One financial education subject per segment • Lasting between 5 and 7 minutes each, leaving 3 minutes for jingles, transition messages or other

broadcasting requirements of direct advertising for eventual sponsors the entire segment should not exceed 10 minutes, to meet the attention span of morning listeners

• Segments should air in the morning, preferably during commute time • Segments should air first in Conakry, Labé and Kankan, but eventually expanding to the rest of the

country • Segments should be presented as short comical banters between recognizable characters • Shorter segments could air every morning and longer segments at the end of the day, at least 4

times a week in order to ensure the message is retained. The same message should be aired at least one month.

Key success factors expressed It will be important to evaluate the success of this initiative. First, the stakeholder's feedback on the financial education initiative as being successful or unsuccessful. Second, after the program airs every day, radio representatives could visit the markets or assembly points to get feedback from the population and eventually identify suggestions for subjects that people would like to learn more about.

6 OTHER MEDIA PARTICIPATING IN FE ACTIVITIES

In order to ensure that financial education activities have the best level of success possible, it would be important to create posters or picture cards illustrating and recapping various financial education subjects discussed during training sessions and hang them in public assembly areas such as church halls, town halls, schools etc. These should also eventually include the name and contact details of the local trainer or of another competent and designated person so that questions on the subject may be answered.

These posters should also be displayed in other public areas where radio programs will be aired, always in main assembly points, but without contact details, in order to illustrate concepts discussed during radio segments.

These posters should take the format of a storyboard and be easy to follow, with either no or very little text written in simple French, Pular, Soussou and/or Malinké. In many ways, an idea to explore, that would serve as reinforcement, would be to have the posters and story lines, illustrate the radio sketches that would form the radio program.

Furthermore, it would be interesting to use sensitization campaigns and efforts put together by other organizations as opportunities to push financial education content.

Key success factors expressed It will be important to evaluate the success of this initiative. First, the stakeholder's feedback on the financial education initiative as being successful or unsuccessful. Second, trainers should visit the places where


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posters will be displayed or assembly points to get feedback from the population and ensure the posters are understood by the intended audience.

7 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

In order for the financial education program have the intended scope and success, the first step will be to focus on the training of CfW beneficiaries as this group of beneficiaries will already be receiving training in order to get their cash transfers. Mainly, it will be important to focus financial education topics on the importance of financial inclusion, on numeracy skills, on saving, on budgeting and managing day to day spending, on managing credit and on preparing for expected and unexpected expenses. These topics will give recipients the basic tools necessary for them to improve their situation and manage their cash transfers in the most beneficial way possible.

These training sessions will be packaged in 2 hour sessions, covering topics in an interactive way, ensuring that participants are asked to explain and demonstrate what they have been taught.

The Secretariat of the Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS / PS) and the Cellule des Filets Sociaux (CFS), spearheading the CfW program, will be best placed to decide on competent trainers, given they will already have retained the services of personnel to provide training on other topics for these projects. Ideally, however, master trainers will have at least a college level education and trainers will be chosen from the community receiving training in order to ensure constant follow-up will be possible.

Short radio segments lasting between 5 and 7 minutes will also be put recorded on a variety of financial education topics and aired on community radios in Conakry, Labé and Kankan at first, then expanding to the entire country.

Constant feedback from stakeholders and beneficiaries of the financial education programs will be sought in order to ensure success and adjust content depending on results.


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APPENDIX 1. LIST OF INDIVIDUAL MEETINGS HELD

TABLE 4. LIST OF INDIVIDUAL MEETINGS HELD

Institutions Name Designation

Banque Centrale de la République de Guinée

Mr. Elhadj Ousmane Djégbé Camara Directeur Général, Direction Générale de la Supervision des Institutions Financières

Mr. Ibrahima Kalil Magassouba Directeur Général, Direction Générale de l’Exploitation

Mr. Elhadj Kémo Conde Inspecteur Général, Directeur de la Supervision des Institutions de Microfinance

Mr. Keita Aboubacar Inspecteur, Direction de la Supervision des Institutions de Microfinance

Ministère de l’Economie et des Finances Stratégie de Réduction de la Pauvreté, Cellule Filets Sociaux Productifs (CFS)

Mr. Wansan Abdoulaye Bah Coordonnateur

Mr. Diallo Abdoul Mazid Micro-économiste - Statisticien

Afriland First Bank Mr. Guy Laurent Fondjo Directeur Général

Coordination Nationale de Lutte Contre Ebola (CNE)

Crédit Rural de Guinée Lamarana Sadio Diallo: Directeur Général

Amara Kourouma Directeur Général Adjoint

Moussa Kamissoko Directeur de l’Exploitation

Yeti Mali Condé Karamou Directeur Général

Doré Gnana Directeur Général Adjoint

ECOBANK Boubacar Diallo Thierno Mamadou Dan Diallo

Directeur Général Adjoint Responsable Produits

BICIGUI Jean Michel Papain Mamadou Sanou Diallo

Directeur Général Adjoint Directeur Études et Marketing

APIMG Ahmadou Sow Executive Director

Cellule Filets Sociaux Bah Abdoulaye Wansan

Coordonnateur - Ministère de l’Economie et des Finances

MTN Mamadou Aliou Barry Mobile Money Manager

Orange Ismael Magassouba

Search for Common Ground

Alfred Bulakaly Maude Barkidjian Mamadou Barry

Guinea Country Director Program Associate Coordonateur de Programme

Coordination Nationale de Lutte contre Ebola

Dr Sekou Condé Coordonnateur National

Mr Baba Abbary Responsable Gestion des Ressources Financières

Mr. Kassim Diare Responsable Administratif et Financier

UNDP David Larue

Technical Payment Specialist- Ebola Response and Recovery Program

Mr Muhamady Kandey UNDP Consultant


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APPENDIX 2. KEY INFORMANT INTERVIEWS - LIST OF PARTICIPANTS AND SUMMARY The following appendix (from Table 5 to Table 10) presents summaries of focus group discussions held in Guinea, for reference purposes.


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TABLE 5. SUMMARY OF FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSIONS HELD IN GUINEA – OVERVIEW OF BLOCKS

Key Informant information

Block B1: (if applicable)

Identify the needs of one or both groups + main perceived obstacles of mobile money usage and general behavior vis-a-vis money usage


Identify, if any, existing education program (financial or not) targeting one or both groups of project’s beneficiaries + provide key success factors in delivery mechanisms to adopt, identify pending local needs and gaps


Provide vision/perception on key issues to be addressed when offering mobile money, electronic payment (Operational framework: delivery mechanism, main obstacles faced, needs and gaps...)


Feed a benchmark approach to analyze and build upon lessons learned on mobile money operational framework and financial education content program development/awareness campaign delivery

BICIGUI

Main topics discussed during the meeting:

FE Needs Assessment Interview

General profile of populations of unbanked/underbanked

As a formal banking institution, BICIGUI do not target this clientele generally better served by microfinance institutions or tontine. In this context, it’s difficult to draw a general profile of these populations. However, they are interested to promote financial inclusion and works with upper layers of the informal sector such as big traders which operate in some markets in Conakry or inside the country. Currently, most save primarily through informal groups, no budgeting, no risk management, little or no use of formal financial services.

Public sensitization about mobile money implemented in Guinea

• Not aware of public sensitization initiatives about mobile money except the communications campaign launched by mobile money providers

Topics covered by education program(s) delivered directly to these groups

• For the moment no education program is delivered but currently negotiating with IFC and PROPARCO for the development of a financial education manual targeting traders of the informal sector

• A memorandum of understanding is currently being discussed with these two institutions.

Trainer profile:

• BICIGUI had no trainers and will not be involved in the training. They will be probably subcontracted to more qualified institutions

• Orange Money and MTN are the two providers of Mobile money payment in Guinée. Orange Money is the leader with 60% market share

• They have a partnership with Orange Money in which BICIGUI acted as an intermediary between Orange and the Central Bank. Orange Money recently obtained an agreement from the Central Bank and the opportunity of maintaining this partnership is actually challenged

• N/A

Additional information

• N/A


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TABLE 6. SUMMARY OF FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSIONS HELD IN GUINEA – GENERAL INTERVIEW (I)


General Interview

Professional Association of Microfinance Institutions of Guinea


Presentation of APIMG

The Professional Association of Microfinance Institutions of Guinea was established in 2005. It’s one of the three associations of the financial sector including, the Professional Association of Banks and the Professional Association of Insurances

Its role is to:

- Promote Microfinance in Guinea;

- Provide an interface between its members, governments, and donors

- Strengthen the capacity of its members and

- Ensure advocacy for microfinance institutions.

16 microfinance institutions are actually part of APIMG. They are approximately 20 other microfinance institutions which are not members. They are trying to formalize by integrating them into the association.

The biggest players in the microfinance sector are the Crédit Rural de Guinée with 80% market share followed by Yete Mali, Finadev, Cofina and Cafodec. In order to operate, microfinance institutions must submit a set of documents, get and agreement from Central Bank and comply with prudential ratios.

The main services offered by MFIs institutions in Guinea are: savings, loan, credit for consumption or for social spending (tuition, mourning, etc.)

1. Profile of mobile money users

- There is no a particular profile but it’s mostly literate people who use these services. Transfer of funds is the most widely As against the transfer of funds, it affects all layers of the population.

2. Constraints to the development of Mobile Money

Low level of literacy of the population:

Virtual nature of mobile money especially among the older segments of the population

Availability of cash in the mobile money kiosks particularly in regions

3. Financial education and communication strategy

APIMG do not have financial education program and is not aware of any initiatives made in this direction by its members. There is however a strong need for financial education and the association is open to participate and to involve its members. Training and awareness are among key success factors for an increased use of mobile money. To this end, it will be better to use proactive approaches and try to reach out directly to the target groups in order to educate and train them in the use of mobile money.

APIMG would be very interested to participate in the development of a financial education manual and to train its members in order to ensure that in return their clients will also be trained. They are also open to any collaboration with Orange Money or MTN for the development and dissemination of financial education content. However, a dialogue with the mobile phone operators is necessary because many MFIs feel threatened by mobile money

Additional information: N/A


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General Interview

Cellule des Filets Sociaux


Presentation of WB initiatives in Guinea and mobile money

Relevance of the planned WBG technical assistance activities

The 4 components of the WB technical assistance program: (i) review of the CFS business skills/Enterprise training module, (ii) Assistance to the CFS in order to pilot the test of the revised module, (iii) revision of the module following the pilot test and (iv) provision of inputs to the content of orientations that beneficiaries would receive, are quite relevant and CFS would have liked for this technical assistance to take place towards the end of June 2016.

CFS has elaborated various training modules (6 in all) of while one is focused on entrepreneurship. It is not exactly a FE module but rather training on entrepreneurship and self-employment. The CFS is very open to receiving an FE training module and use it to give financial education training.

Training of beneficiaries

Beneficiaries training had not yet begun at the time of interview. A training plan has been developed and shared. 20 facilitators have been trained to animate the training, that is 3 trainers per NGO. Training will begin on a pilot basis with 10 micro-projects (an NGO is in charge of each micro project). Training sessions will take place once a week, preferably on the weekly pay day. Typically, to cover the developed technical material of the training, training sessions last 4 hours per training day per module, which translates to 24 hours of training per micro project.

Profile of beneficiaries

Very vulnerable groups of women and youth, usually illiterate. Given the project is focused on Conakry and regional capitals, beneficiaries are mostly urban and peri-urban dwellers. The CFS has a procedure manual defining selection criteria in a community. Each micro project is first notified to the commune where it will be deployed, the commune then creates a target committee made up of 3 members chosen among religious leaders, youth and women’s associations and teaching personnel.

This committee has the responsibility to select among vulnerable areas, 150 people, as well as another 15 people on waiting list to replace in case someone drops out.

Selection is made with priority given to in the following order:

- Widows with children, then widows - Women with children - Women caring for a sick person - Handicapped persons - Youth with children or taking care of a sick person - Youth

Interest for Mobile money

The CFS is favorably predisposed to mobile money however, they will need to limit its ambitions because of characteristics of the population it serves. Operations will have to be tied to basic functions (sending and receiving money) and Mobile money kiosks will have to be made available across the territory and have enough liquidity to instill confidence in this payment mechanism.


• N/A


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TABLE 7. SUMMARY OF FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSIONS HELD IN GUINEA – OVERVIEW OF BLOCKS (II)


Block B1: (if applicable) Identify the needs of one or both groups + main perceived obstacles of mobile money usage and general behavior vis-a-vis money usage

Block B2: (if applicable)Identify, if any, existing education program (financial or not) targeting one or both groups of project’s beneficiaries + provide key success factors in delivery mechanisms to adopt, identify pending local needs and gaps

Block B3: (if applicable)Provide vision/perception on key issues to be addressed when offering mobile money, electronic payment (Operational framework: delivery mechanism, main obstacles faced, needs and gaps...)

Block B4: (if applicable)Feed a benchmark approach to analyze and build upon lessons learned on mobile money operational framework and financial education content program development/awareness campaign delivery

Crédit Rural de Guinée (CRG)




All types of clientele (male and female) but predominantly rural, at 157 points of service of the Credit Rural, 40% located in urban and peri-urban areas and 60% in rural areas

Primary mechanisms:

• For saving – primarily clubs and social groups and community SUSUs. For borrowing – clubs and informal loan providers. No risk management

Current Knowledge, Skills, and Attitudes and Behaviors

• Of the 300,000 clients of the CRG, only 18-20% is literate. They can develop more modern financial behaviors in terms of saving, credit, and use formal financial products. The others have more traditional behaviors dictated by the socio-economic conditions with weak level of people who save. With such low revenue, and limited capability in terms of communications, the most important would be for new regulations to help them come out of poverty.

Current available mechanisms for saving, borrowing and risk management

They keep their money with trusted people. They try to sensitize their clients to save their money at service points of the CRG.

Critical factors for success of the unbanked and underbanked to achieve goals and use available services

• Mobile Money sensitization campaign targeting youth and early adopters to this new mechanism. Train villagers to use this system.


• Financial education of members. CRG is engaged in sensitization and financial education of clients to teach how to budget and develop habits giving priority to spending.

• They cover budgeting, saving, debt credit management, accessing financial services and negotiating

• They are open to expanding their financial education training to enrich their financial education program

Trainer profile:

• CRG uses their own personnel for training. Twice a month employees of the CRG travel to markets to identify the needs of their clientele and train them accordingly

• No indirect training is given but they do spend additional time with the influential people of each community

Key needs to be met or gaps to address in terms of financial education program to develop

There needs to be a step by step approach and training must be dealt on a functional way and in local dialects. People, even illiterate usually have basic numeracy skills. Objectives should be realistic and not too ambitious.

• Train the youth in priority • Go to villages and train people • Try to identify the change agents within

communities which can disseminate the training

• In Guinea, MTN and Orange are the two main providers of mobile money. Their clientele is mainly urban and literate. The CRG is already partnering with Orange Money

Recommendations to ensure a widespread usage of mobile money

- Emphasis should be placed on the social statement and security of this payment system. Ensure the entire chain works that the entire territory be covered, that there be no liquidity problems and build confidence in the system by developing simple techniques that can easily be implemented in less educated communities

- CRG thinks phone operators should concentrate on technical solutions and leave financial education to institutions with experience in the matter

- Radio is likely the medium that can reach the most amount of people and French language programs are the most respected and trusted, those in local dialects are not trusted

N/A


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Block B1: (if applicable) Identify the needs of one or both groups + main perceived obstacles of mobile money usage and general behavior vis-a-vis money usage

Block B2: (if applicable)Identify, if any, existing education program (financial or not) targeting one or both groups of project’s beneficiaries + provide key success factors in delivery mechanisms to adopt, identify pending local needs and gaps

Block B3: (if applicable)Provide vision/perception on key issues to be addressed when offering mobile money, electronic payment (Operational framework: delivery mechanism, main obstacles faced, needs and gaps...)

Block B4: (if applicable)Feed a benchmark approach to analyze and build upon lessons learned on mobile money operational framework and financial education content program development/awareness campaign delivery

EcoBank




• EcoBank doesn’t target this type of clientele and has more formal clients

Primary mechanisms:

• Ecobank doesn’t service this clientele

Public sensitization about mobile money implemented in Liberia

• No visibility for these types of initiatives


• No, Ecobank doesn’t have such initiatives

• MTN and Orange are the two main providers of mobile money. Ecobank already partners with MTN and are finalizing another with Orange for Mobile Money Wallets of 10 million GNF to allow clients to pay their bills (cable tv, electricity). Financial inclusion in Guinea is at 5 – 6% and mobile money holds a strong financial inclusion potential


1. Improved sensitization of potential clients on various possibilities offered by mobile money

2. Targeted and recurrent communication campaigns

N/A


• N/A


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TABLE 8. SUMMARY OF FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSIONS HELD IN GUINEA – GENERAL INTERVIEW (III)


General Interview

MTN



Profile of mobile money users

No typical profile, all types of users. Only 5-8% of population of Guinea is financially included and mobile money is an interesting substitute to be used for those that don’t want to pay for bank services. Mobile money penetration is at 25%.

Constraints to development of mobile money

Low literacy and lack of financial education

Regulations in place and support from the state to develop mobile money

Cost of investment, operators invest heavily on platforms but see little return

Low confidence in mobile money

MTN uses ECOBANK’s license to develop mobile money.

Hard to predict volume of withdrawals in various agent points

Participation of MTN in promotion of mobile money

MTN is ready to participate in sensitization and information campaigns for mobile money which would require that the population be informed of the advantages of mobile money. Important to present mobile money as an alternative to other banking products that is easily accessible and cheaper. Start with big shops which have the highest economic strength and from there trickle down to smaller. Sensitize community leaders


• N/A


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TABLE 9. SUMMARY OF FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSIONS HELD IN GUINEA – GENERAL INTERVIEW (IV)


General Interview

Orange Guinée SA



Profile of mobile money users

No typical profile, all types of users, it is quite mixed. Most people that use it tend to have a regular income

Constraints to development of mobile money

Low literacy level of population, 1.4 million Orange users but only 200,000 using mobile money

Low confidence in mobile money as people tend to use cash

Breadth of agent network, they think they have 2000 kiosks in the country

Access to network inconsistent in rural areas and only urban dwellers can use orange money to pay bills

Financial education and communication strategy

Orange doesn’t have financial education programs for their clients but uses tv, radio, flyers, etc to get the word out. To reach those with lower level of literacy, Orange money conceived messages in local languages and uses the radio. For urban areas, TV and radio are the best way to reach potential clients. In rural areas, community radio is the way to go.

Participation of Orange Money for promotion of Mobile money

Orange money must be ready to participate in mobile money education and sensitization campaigns but this is a corporate decision and depends on require resources.


• N/A


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TABLE 10. SUMMARY OF FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSIONS HELD IN GUINEA – OVERVIEW OF BLOCKS (III)










Search For Common Ground



• N/A Topics covered by education program(s) delivered directly to these groups

SFCG implements awareness and education programs targeting women and youth. Many of the beneficiaries of these programs fall into the category of unbanked and under banked populations

They have some components in their programs which tries to promote income generating activities for women.

SFCG is open to collaborate in the implementation of a financial education even though it is not their area of expertise. SFCG have a good knowledge of the Guinean media network and a valuable experience in communication strategy aiming local populations.

Key needs to be met or gaps to address in terms of financial education program to develop

• Education and sensitization campaign are more efficient when communications tools are diversified. It may be more costly, but the probability to reach the anticipated result is greater.

• It’s more efficient and easier to reach youth people through social medias. Furthermore youth love competition and the use of radio or television quiz are very popular and could give good results

• interactive programs works better and allows to have an immediate feed back;

• The use of community radio is the best way to reach people within the country. Few radio stations have national coverage

• MTN and Orange Money currently providing mobile money initiatives


In the implementation of its programs, SFCG emphasizes on a multi-media approach applied to a variety of subjects. Several media outlets are used:

Written materials : comics, pictures, leaflets, billboards

Audio-visual materials: sketches, magazines, talk show, quiz (very popular in primary and secondary schools because children love competition), theater, televised series, , soap operas,

Movies based on a thematic issues. In these cases, SFCG develop a scenario and produce a movie with the participation of locals actors. This approach works well for the promotion of role models.

Stakeholders involved in the delivery mechanism of mobile money should :

• Offer directly financial education or sensitization to their customer/beneficiary? If so in what form or shape? (available on their mobile phone, on their website, together with radio ads...).

• Be part of a joint effort (pool of stakeholders involved in the operational framework e.g.) offering financial education? If so, which stakeholder may lead and promote this option?

- Promote a campaign awareness to reach and inform a larger audience on these opportunities

Profile of key stakeholders of delivery chain of financial education program:

• Search For Common Ground Guinea is not involved in Financial Education Programs and has no knowledge of any Financial Education Project implemented by other SFCG offices in Liberia and Sierra Leone.


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TABLE 11. SUMMARY OF FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSIONS HELD IN GUINEA – OVERVIEW OF BLOCKS (IV)










Afriland



Key challenges in getting more Guineans to use regulated financial services

Confidence: Guineans don’t trust financial institutions. They feel that their money is safer in their pocket than in a bank. There were previous problems with the financial system in Guinea. Build confidence takes some time. Thinks part of the problem might lapse in customer confidentiality by people who work at banks. “The saying is: ‘money doesn’t like noise.’” People worry that bank staff will talk about their money

General profile of the population of unbanked/underbanked

• Generally illiterate. Can have a lot of money and be very good money managers. For example, people who work with forex are very smart in managing money. In their own informal systems, they are good managers.

• The percentage of people who are highly in debt is very low simply because it is difficult for them to get loans in the first place

Current available mechanisms for saving, borrowing, risk management

Strong level of confidence in the informal network. No paper used. Loans are very short-term.

Most effective channels for delivering financial literacy to these groups

• Be in the field, doing one to one interactions with them.

• Go through groups - business groups, community and cultural interest groups – to deliver financial education

Public sensitization about mobile money implemented in Guinea

Financial Service Providers should deliver. Telcos should not have a license to act as financial institutions in mobile money. The financial part should be managed by the banks because when telcos manage virtual money and their airtime, the risk is that both airtime and MM can be merged. Should have a partnership between bank and MNO - the bank has the physical cash. (continued)

N/A N/A Key recommendations to ensure a successful implementation of a Financial Education Program across the country:

• Provide products and services that have impact on their daily activities. Bear in mind you have informal competitors and so the value proposition for formal financial services must be stronger than the informal to attract them. Afriland’s competitive edge is the cost of their services. Financial institutions must bring down the costs. For the informal sector, it is very high


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1. Establishing a network of community banks

• 5% real rate of people banked in Guinea. • Afriland Bank is targeting rural areas. People are the owners of their own institutions, which makes them responsible for themselves. • Available services: fund transfers, pensions can be received, banking correspondents. • Afriland is the technical advisor. It trains the community on how to create a community bank (process, finance and management). After training, Afriland continues to help them with

the management, control and refinancing. • Established 35 community banks in less than 1 year, with approval from Central Bank. Reaching 50,000 people. Creating a culture of savings in the communities. 0% non-performing

loans rate. End consumers must repay their entire loan before they can receive another loan. • People must save 2 million dollars in personal savings. They start with savings and then get refinanced for 4 million dollars in loan. End consumer has max less than $500. Interest

rate for loan is low. Why MFIs fail is because interest rate is very high. But in these community banks the rate is 5% percent per year. The normal interest rate in Guinea is 18-20%. Shareholders in community banks get dividends after 1 -2 years.

• It can take from 2 months to 1 year for a community bank to launch. Number of members can range from 1000-5000 people. • Afriland is not making any profit from community banks. Part of their operating costs for now. But they hope that in 2-3 years they can get funds from international donors to cover

costs.

2. “Flash cash” is like a traveler’s check which can be cashed at any branch/cash point. Free flash cash can be widely used for payment. One version of flash cash can be used specifically for paying custom taxes. Afriland launched the product a year ago.

3. Targeting SMEs in informal sector- Afriland helps SMEs build financial statements and make their project bankable so that they can get a loan from Afriland. Generally takes from 2 weeks to 3 months to help SMEs through the process. Afriland sees the value in this activity as developing loyal customers and increasing its market share.

4. Mobile Money - Afriland is in the process of putting together a MM offering that includes fund transfers, cash out and payment of utility bills. MM users won’t need to be a bank account holder to use the service. Afrland currently has e-banking


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TABLE 12. SUMMARY OF FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSIONS HELD IN GUINEA – MEETING WITH CENTRAL BANK (I)


General Interview

Banque Centrale de la Republique de Guinee (BCRG)


Overview of WBG activities under Technical Assistance for Supporting `Financial Capability Enhancing Activities in Ebola Affected Countries

Reaction to MM sensitization campaign

BCRG is very concerned with mobile money right now. The sensitization campaign comes at a good time. It will support what BCRG plans to do. Once MM materials are developed and BCRG will approach the media to broadcast it. BCRG can invite resource persons for the broadcast.

MM developments in Guinea

MM guidelines were achieved. As of today, three major MM service providers are operating: Orange Money, which is a separate entity on its own; MTN which is collaborating with Ecobank; and Orange which used to have a partnership with BICIGUI.

Orange Money is working hard on the ground and people are taking advantage of it. They support designing a module to educate customers.

BCRG is part of AFI, which is interested in financial inclusion. AMPI at AFI conference was recently held in Dakar. BCRG Governor is the Deputy Chair for AMPI.

Role of BCRG

BCRG has a directorate consisting of 3 parts: bank supervision, insurance and microfinance/financial inclusion. These 3 parts are under his supervision.

BCRG is mostly involved in the supervision of institutions for microfinance. As such, they design the legislation and disseminate the legislation for people to be aware, and carry out anything that has to do with control. The only thing not in their mandate was to promote microfinance. In some cases, his office could do some MFI promotion, but this task is not officially part of their portfolio. Technically, it should have been under the structure of ANAMIF or the Ministry of Finance body which is not fully functional.

What is needed to bring wider MM usage

1. MM sensitization – People need to have the culture to adopt MM. BCRG is considering using media to sensitize people: sending messages through print media, TV, radio. There have been memos submitted to top management and they may implement sensitization in the future, but right now nothing has been disseminated.

2. Availability of IT tools to people who want to set up a MM business.

Financial Education in Guinea

Does not know of FE programs.


• N/A


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TABLE 13. SUMMARY OF FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSIONS HELD IN GUINEA – MEETING WITH CENTRAL BANK (II)






FE Needs Assessment Interview (Block B1)


• Either completely illiterate or have a very limited education. They have no permanent job and as result, have no regular income.

Current knowledge, skills, attitudes

They potentially have some kind of savings. It would be under their mattresses at home. If they keep savings at home, it is because they are unaware of the risks of keeping it at home or don’t know the advantages of putting money in a secure institution. They lack financial education.

Loan providers prey on non-financially literate people. It is very common for people to sign contracts without reading them. This is a problem throughout the whole system of credit in Guinea

Primary mechanisms:

• Mobile Money: By the end February 2016, MTN and Orange have reached 1 million people. The total value of MM transactions is 244 billion GNF since MM started to Jan. 31, 2016. Out of this 244 billion GNF, there was still some savings kept in accounts, approximately 400 million.

• Says there have been no consumer complaints yet, but this can be because MM is still a new product.

• BCRG does not have any grievance handling mechanisms in place. BCRG has stated thinking about creating one within BCRG. BCRG plans to make it mandatory for financial service providers to set up grievance/complaint handling mechanisms within their institutions.

Critical factors for success of the unbanked and underbanked to achieve goals and use available services

A barrier for banking is that they can’t get access to credit from financial institutions. Commercial banks have very little consideration for this target population and focus on those people who have large savings. There needs to be financial service providers located very close to the poor

Public sensitization about mobile money implemented in Liberia

• MNOs are doing sensitization for their own businesses. But BCRG also wants to do public sensitization at the community level.

Comments or recommendations to ensure a successful replication of this initiative to reach a larger audience

• Vision for MM: MM is a product aimed at the poorest groups of the population, the people who don’t have traditional access to banks. The informal sector much larger than formal sector in Guinea, so we must put in place ways to help the informal sector to use MM. MM has numerous applications: people can pay their duties or certain taxes for goods through MM. (These are for very small amounts of money.) Banks don’t work for the poor and illiterate. BCRG thinks MM is a practical means for this target segment to use. They can transfer money through MM to pay their taxes.

• At local markets, taxes are supposed to be paid at the very low level (commune level or higher city level). The government would be in a better position to collect the money from these small taxes.

• Petty traders who earn a small amount of money at the end of the day can save their money on their phone. MM is not just about transferring money, though you can transfer money in real time.

• If university students receive stipends from the government, they can receive them through MM. The same can be done for pension payments and military payments from the government. These types of interventions will get people to join the financial sector. MM is not being used yet for G2P payments as the regulations are new..

• To reach this goal of widespread usage of MM, BCRG needs assistance from WBG to get this kind of network in place and build BCRG’s capacity to supervise and secure the MM network. It is not just about software and hardware. It is also about training on the systemic risk in e-payments.

Then sensitize population about what is needed to subscribe to MM, the benefits, what kind of transactions there are and how to do them. It needs to be done in a stronger way.


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TABLE 14. SUMMARY OF FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSIONS HELD IN GUINEA – MEETING WITH CENTRAL BANK (III)


General Interview



Update on WBG activities

Confirmation of mobile money/e-payments sensitization radio campaign in partnership with BCRG

Share inputs, knowledge and experience

Reaction to TA to Mobile Money/E-Payments Radio Sensitization Campaign

Very enthusiastic about the campaign. Campaign is timely. He has always seen the link between MM and FE.

MM generates employment. Many people are interested in setting up businesses now as MM outlets. The major challenge with setting up an outlet is that it may require up to 10 million GNF.

Update on MNOs and MM license

Orange received a license from BCRG. MTN is still under application for MM license from BCRG. MTN is still currently operating MM with its bank partner.

Target audience for MM campaign

Does not recommend target specific group in population. However, for people who operate in the informal sector, there is a clear value proposition for MM. MM allows those working in the informal sector to move money from point A to point B to make payments. Focus for MM should be about making payments or expenditures.

Over 50% of youth operate in the informal sector. Formal sector youth receive stipends or make payments for minor expenses through MM. Informal sector may save money in MM account.

Objectives for MM campaign

For Objective #2:

Increase trust and willingness to try using mobile money and ease acceptance of non-cash payments

- Need to tighten language about “non-cash payments” because it can mean cards and there is currently not the infrastructure for widespread card usage. If we mean for non-cash payments to mean MM, keep in people can cash out using MM [so it is not really non-cash]. [INTERNAL: replace “non-cash payments” in Objective 2 with “mobile money.”]

- Feels that getting people to adopt MM is very feasible because it is already in the culture in Guinea---people have been sending airtime credit to each other [like M-Pesa in Kenya] and it is the same basic concept [of using a type of e-currency].

For Objective 3:

Increase understanding of m-wallet linked to bank accounts. This may also lead to an increase in awareness of potential benefits of bank accounts (secondary)

- People working in the informal sector won’t be that interested in the link between MM and bank accounts. They would want MM because they can’t/don’t have bank accounts.

Suggests adding another objective:

- Sensitize partners of public sector about the advantages of MM for collecting taxes or making G2P transfers. WBG response: Too early for education on this because there are no programs in place for P2G or G2P payments yet. BCRG is OK with not addressing this in the campaign.


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TABLE 15. SUMMARY OF FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSIONS HELD IN GUINEA – MEETING WITH CENTRAL BANK (IV)


General Interview



Share inputs, knowledge and experience

Share any new developments with respect to mobile money in Guinea

1. What are the key challenges that unbanked and underbanked people in Guinea face with understanding and using mobile money? (e.g. commonly asked questions, frequent complaints or misconceptions that they have about MM?)

Since 2012, we operated services for MM, but didn’t have guidelines. MM providers used banking partners to provide MM services. Now with new regulations, MM providers have to report to the Central Bank – OME on a quarterly basis. Mar. 31st reports from MM providers are due. Some MM providers have reluctance to comply with regulations. They are skeptical because of network issues, e.g. no signal. More than 1 million people are using MM, over 2 billion of GNF. Consumers have questions about the security of MM. They don’t understand how it works – the idea of putting money on a phone and getting money from it? What happens if I lose my phone? But once consumers get started on MM, they learn quickly.

2. What do you think is needed to bring about widespread usage of MM in Guinea (supply side, demand side)?

1. Quantity of supply. People should have cash out points close to them that can respond to the risk of shortage cash. Liquidity needs to be there. If cash is not available at a cash out point, then people get upset when they want to withdraw.

2. Train MM providers to be able to explain to the public how to use it. The MM regulations require that MM providers must train people properly about the services.

BCRG is looking to use the interest generated from the trust account of a MM provider to fund financial education. It is not part of regulations right now. Between 10-12% is to be the negotiated interest rate for the trust account. 30% of the trust fund account is the maximum that MNOs can use from the trust fund. The rest will be used to lower operational costs Many MM agents are currently deployed on the ground. But demand for MM is not high. Agents are not making enough money because of few transactions. MM regulations allow for one agent to operate for 2 MNOs which is a better solution for agents to make more money. However, people are still using informal methods for money transfers. Orange Money can be used to deliver stipends to students. BCRG wants the government to use MM to deliver G2P payments, e.g. social allowances, and to allow P2G for paying taxes.

MTN is currently working with Ecobank for MM, so MTN is not yet working independently as a MM provider. MTN can still work in MM until the end of April, when they have to comply with the new regulations. Orange’s trust account is in BICIGUI.

3. Are you aware of any public sensitization about mobile money? If yes, by who? How was it delivered? (You can probe specifically about how Orange Money has approached sensitizing people about their specific MM products)

It is conducted by telcos. Orange Money started at the end of 2013. They used mass media, targeted young people, and worked with MFIs as agents who talked to customers. BCRG is planning to have a good campaign with all players to let people know about the legislations. But BCRG hasn’t done anything yet. The campaign should be done by publicity events and offering incentives to consumers if they use MM.

4. From a consumer protection standpoint, what key things from the BCRG MM regulations are most important for consumers to understand with respect to using MM?

Article 46 in MM regulations: Consumer Protection:

• Clients should be able to identify their agents. • MM provider must address customers complaints within 30 days • Agent has must produce receipts for every transaction. • MM providers should have customer service help line. • Transactions should be conducted in a transparent way. • All MM transaction should be stored in the MNO’s database.


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5. What elements do you think are crucial to ensuring a successful initiative offering such public sensitization about mobile money for the unbanked and underbanked?

Two factors:

1. Focus on financial education: raise awareness about MM products. Morocco has a national FE strategy.

2. Must get people to use it, e.g. through G2P or oblige companies to pay salaries through MM.

Which actor(s) should be involved in this initiative?

In addition to the BCRG, should involve associations such as NGOs. 95% people in Guinea have mobile phones. Agents in the field should educate people how to use the phone for MM.

What are the types of key messages about MM that should be delivered to the target group?

Security. Availability of the money: that it can be cashed out at any time. People want to see the physical cash and have quick service. The most important aspect is the first trial. People new to MM want to cash out right away to see if it works. Sometimes agents lack liquidity. BCRG doesn’t have data on whether people are leaving balances in MM accounts. BCRG wants to reduce the use of physical cash. It wants to build up an electronic money system, so that BCRG keeps the physical cash and the people use e-money. BCRG spends a lot of money to create bank notes. If there is a digital economy, it would be very profitable for BCRG.

6. About how many commercial banks in Guinea allow customers to link their MM wallets to bank accounts? Which banks? Are they fully integrated in terms of being able to money easily between the wallet and bank account in both directions? Who are the early adopters of this service ---high/middle income segments?

Ecobank is finalizing MM linked bank accounts. BCIGUI is also linking MM to bank accounts. Pilot period is now. Within two months, Ecobank and Orange’s service should launch. Not sure launch date for BCIGUI. MM linked bank accounts can be access either through USSD (menu-driven) or smart phone. Early adopters of this service will be people who are currently using bank accounts and are used to using electronic cash. You can’t expect that low-income people to want this linked service [because they are not banked]. But for money transfers, you don’t need to be rich for that.

7. If you were to sensitize the public about m-wallets linked to bank accounts, what would be the key messages you would convey to the public?

Banks are responsible for sensitizing people about this feature. People who are already banked would like this product. When the unbanked open a MM account, and they receive a deposit, they usually immediately cash it out. They may save some money in the MM account. They need to develop confidence in MM. If people are saving a lot of money in their MM account, banks can suggest to these people to transfer their e-money into a bank account and get benefits.

What is the cash limit for storing money in a MM account?

25 million GNF is the maximum amount allowed in a MM account held by an individual. This is Orange’s current limit. BCRG does not have a maximum amount set yet, but it is in the process of developing limits on the value of transactions. Will set maximum amounts for individual account holders and business account holders.

What is the maximum value for transferring money through MM?

10 million GNF is the maximum value for transfers in a MM transaction. Again, this is Orange Money’s practice because BCRG does not have regulations for this yet.


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APPENDIX 3. FOCUS GROUP MEETINGS - LIST OF PARTICIPANTS AND SUMMARY

Table 16 and Table 17 present summaries of focus group discussions held in Guinea, for reference purposes.


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TABLE 16. CASH FOR WORK: PRODUCTIVE SOCIAL SAFETY NETS PROJECT BENEFICIARIES – FINANCIAL CAPABILITY FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSION

Group General life and access to financial institutions

Day to day money management Savings behavior / Planning for unexpected expenses

Borrowing behavior / Concluding questions

Group 1

Conakry

Aged 25-45

Cash for Work beneficiaries

Various levels of schooling from elementary to university level

Urban

10 participants

7 women

General characteristics:

• 5/10 participants are heads of their household

• 10/10 participants declared earning money on a regular basis from the cash transfer program and receive their money regularly

• 10/10 participants have a mobile phone which they use for calls, texting and to acess the internet

• 10/10 participants listen to the radio regularly (Espace FM, Nostalgie FM, RKS FM, Soleil FM), mostly its on as background noise while they go about their daily activities

• 10/10 participants watch TV every day at some point during the day

• Financial Institutions

- 10/10 participants have a bank close to home (Ecobank, Bicigui, BNG, Skybank, Société Générale), and know what products are offered

- These banks are very close to participants’ homes (between 50m and 500m) and mention knowing the banks are there because they often pass by them

- 10/10 participants declared the costs are roughly the same from bank to bank, what makes the difference is quality of service and proximity to home

- 6/10 participants declared having an account at the bank and being satisfied

- 4/10 declared not having an account because of lack of funds

- 3/10 participants that also have a bank account mentioned using local services to perform money transfers as this was faster and more efficient. They do not use the banks as they claim these don’t always have enough liquidity and often freeze money coming in from withdrawal

10/10 participants usually pay bills in cash and claim it works fine for them

Before receiving cash transfers, money was earned:

• 10/10 own a business

Households spend most of their money on:

• 7/10 participants mentioned food as top expenditure with 1/10 of them also mentioning medical expenses and a further 1/10 mentioning tuition fees

• 1/10 participant mentioned sending money to mother

• 1/10 participant mentioned using it in the business

• 1/10 participant mentioned only medical expenses

10/10 participants succeed in setting aside money:

• 10/10 participants mentioned they keep this money at home because they it’s too small to put at the bank

• 10/10 participants plan what to do with the money they put aside

When running short of money:

- 9/10 participants say they run out of money and mention borrowing money from their friends or family

• 3/10 participants borrowed money to pay off debts because their creditors would not extend more credit

• 9/10 participants currently have debts to repay

• 10/10 participants said they knew how often they would receive money and what they would spend it on but only 2/10 participants said they knew how much money they currently had for day to day spending

0/10 participants mentioned they still would be able to borrow more money

Savings behavior:

• 10/10 declared having saved money in the past 12 months though they all mentioned not being able to hold on to savings long enough as expenses kept rolling in, savings were therefore not made on a regular basis

• Savings are made for unexpected expenses or in case of illness but usually the money is spent on daily expenses

• 10/10 participants also mentioned trying to budget to avoid wasting money

• 0/10 of participants declared having lost money in a financial institution

• 0/10 participants declared using bank accounts or informal clubs to save money because of long queues and wait times not to mention account fees which they deem too high

Planning for unexpected expenses:

• 10/10 participants declared having to deal with emergencies and unexpected expenses regularly

• If an emergency were to happen, 10/10 participants have declared they would borrow money from their relatives or friends

• 3/10 participants mentioned trying to start a new activity to further supplement their income

• 1/10 participant mentioned that relying on friends and family for help results in people not taking the act of budgeting or setting money aside seriously

Borrowing:

• 10/10 participants declared they did not borrow money or request a loan from any financial institution in the past 12 months

• 10/10 participants mentioned banks require too many guarantees, too much paperwork involved, require certificates of property when it seems these are hard to come by, high interest rates

• 2/10 recently borrowed money from friends or family

Topics of interest for training:

• It seemed the preferred length of training was between 30 minutes and 1 hour

• 10/10 participants would like to learn about topics such as saving, credit, numeracy and think discussion groups would be best

10/10 participants also mentioned community radios and door-to-door “trainers”


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Group 2

Labé

Aged 25-35

Cash for Work beneficiaries

Various levels of schooling, from secondary to university and some students

Peri-urban

10 participants

6 women



• 0/10 participants declared earning money on a regular basis from the cash transfer program; they declared having received some money a long time ago but not recently

• 10/10 participants have a mobile phone which they use for calls, 9/10 also for texting and 7/10 acess the internet with it

• 10/10 participants listen to the radio when in places that play it, they do not listen to it at home (Espace FM, Continentale FM, Fotten Gollen FM), mostly its on as background noise while they go about their daily activities

• 10/10 participants watch TV every regularly, typically Espace TV

• Financial Institutions - 7/10 participants have a bank or MFI close to

home (could not name them), and say they know what products are offered

- These institutaions are very close to participants’ homes (between 200m and 300m) and mention knowing the banks and MFIs are there because they often see flyers and billboards for them

- 10/10 participants declared the costs are roughly the same from bank to bank, but that they aren’t sure what the differences are, perhaps quality of service and proximity to home

- 0/10 participants declared having an account at the bank because they do not have regular income or a regular job, and usually earn too small an income

10/10 participants usually pay bills in cash and claim it works fine for them

10/10 participants claimed having insufficient funds for making mobile money transfers


• 8/10 are unemployed

• 2/10 don’t receive regular income

Households spend most of their money on:

• 4/10 participants mentioned food as top expenditure with

• 3/10 participants mentioned tuition fees as top expenditure

• 3/10 participants mentioned clothing as top expenditure

0/10 participants succeed in setting aside money


- 10/10 participants say they run out of money and 2/10 mention borrowing money from their friends or family while 1/10 believes God will provide, 2/10 find odd jobs while the rest don’t know

• 4/10 participants borrowed money to pay off debts

• 6/10 say they would talk to the creditor


10/10 participants mentioned they still haven’t reached their credit limit and would be able to borrow more money

Savings behavior:

• 0/10 declared having saved money in the past 12 months and they all mentioned not having a high enough income (most aren’t heads of HH) as expenses kept rolling in


• 0/10 participants declared using bank accounts or informal clubs to save money. This is because of long queues and wait times not to mention account fees which they deem too high


• 3/10 participants declared having to deal with emergencies and unexpected expenses regularly while the rest said they couldn’t say if something would come up

• If an emergency were to happen, 10/10 participants have declared they were not heads of their household and this wasn’t their responsibility though they suspect they would borrow money from their relatives or friends

1/10 participants mentioned not even wanted to think of expenses because it would be impossible to cover them all

Borrowing:

• 10/10 participants declared they did not borrow money or request a loan from any financial institution in the past 12 months

• 10/10 participants mentioned they wouldn’t be accepted for a loan as they don’t have an income so did not apply

• 1/10 recently borrowed money from friends and says terms were great as the friend didn’t request the loan back or charge interest


• It seemed the preferred length of training was 1 hour

• 10/10 participants would like to learn about topics such as saving, credit, numeracy

10/10 participants also mentioned creating jingles airing on community radios and TV and using door-to-door “trainers”


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TABLE 17. UNDERBANKED AND UNBANKED – FINANCIAL CAPABILITY FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSION




Group 1

Conakry

Aged 30-55

Participants to represent the unbanked or underbanked

Various levels of schooling

Urban

10 participants

8 women



• 10/10 participants declared earning money on a semi regular basis

• 10/10 participants have a mobile phone which they use for calls mostly

• 10/10 participants listen to the radio regularly mostly its on as background noise while they go about their daily activities

• Financial Institutions - 10/10 participants have a financial institution

close to home (Ecobank, Bicigui, MoneyGram, BNG, Skybank), but don’t know what products are offered, they understand the difference with MoneyGram

- These banks are somewhat close to participants’ homes and mention knowing the institutions through radio announcements, commercials, flyers and billboards

- 10/10 participants declared most banks are the same, with some offering better service quality and more attentive services. 1/10 participant mentioned the Credit Rural even came to the workplace to pick up deposits and manage the tontine.

- 0/10 participants declared having an account at the bank

- 10/10 would be interested in learning to use and pay bills through mobile money or phone banking which would avoid them having to move

10/10 participants pay bills only in cash and claim it works fine for them


• 10/10 have a form of employment

1/10 households plan how they will use their money:

• Those that plan mentioned doing it in relation to how much money they expect to receive so this is not always the same. They try to save a small portion when they can

• 10/10 participants mentioned following planning would always depended on emergencies and problems that occur (illness, death etc) which would prompt them to spend money unexpectedly

• 4/10 participants declared having money left over after paying for necessary things

6/10 participants mentioned running short of money:


- 5/10 participants say they would borrow money from their friends or family

• 0/10 participants mentioned borrowing to pay off debts

• 8/10 participants said they knew how much money they currently had for day to day spending


• 6/10 mentioned having borrowed more than they could but none mentioned spending on unnecessary things before food

7/10 mentioned spending money on things that were not necessary and that they couldn’t afford because of social pressure forcing them to dress well for example

Savings behavior:

• 10/10 declared having saved money in the past 12 months and regularly saving money

• Amounts saved depend on revenue and expenses and are not always the same

• Participants saved money at home

• 10/10 participants declared using informal clubs to save money. The institution was mostly chosen because of proximity.


• 10/10 participants declared not knowing when emergencies happen

• If an emergency were to happen, 10/10 participants have declared they would borrow money from their work supervisors, relatives or friends

• 10/10 participant mentioned saving for unexpected expenses at times but being the money winner, never knowing what the next expenses would be as everyone always asks for money

Borrowing:

• 0/10 participants declared they requested a loan from any financial institution in the past 12 months, because they didn’t know how


• It seemed the preferred length of training was 1 hour

• 10/10 participants would like to learn more about topics such as mobile money and electronic payments and build knowledge to be able to perform transactions safely


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Group 2

Kankan

Aged 25-40

Participants selected to represent the unbanked or underbanked


Peri-urban

10 participants

7 women



• 1/10 participants declared earning money on a regular basis

• 10/10 participants have a mobile phone which they use for calls mainly

• 10/10 participants listen to the radio regularly mostly its on as background noise while they go about their daily activities



close to home and don’t know what products are offered

- 4/10 participants declared most banks are the same with some offering better service quality



• 1/10 are employed


• Those that plan mentioned doing it in relation to how much money they receive and spend so this is not always the same.

• 10/10 participants mentioned following planning always depended on emergencies and problems that occur (illness, death etc) which would prompt them to spend money unexpectedly

• 10/10 participants declared not having money left over after paying for necessary things, and keeping this money aside



- 4/10 participants say they would borrow money from the salesperson or store directly

- 6/10 mentioned asking family or friends



6/10 mentioned spending money on things that were not necessary and that they couldn’t afford because they wanted something in particular

Savings behavior:

• 10/10 declared having saved some money in the past 12 months but not regularly

• Those that don’t save regularly mention that their income is too low

• Amounts saved depend on revenue and expenses and are not always the same

• Participants saved money at the home



• 10/10 participants declared not knowing when emergencies happen


• 10/10 participant mentioned saving for unexpected expenses but being the money winner, never knowing what the next expenses would be as everyone always asks for money

Borrowing:

• 0/10 participants declared they requested a loan from any financial institution in the past 12 months

• Participants mentioned not knowing the loan request procedures and having to deal with too much bureaucracy and give too many guarantees

• 6/10 mentioned borrowing from friends


• It seemed the preferred length of training was 1-2 hours with preference for the weekend

• 10/10 participants would like to learn more about budgeting

• 10/10 would like to learn specifics about availability of certain services close to them and think door-to-door representatives would be the best way of informing them of this


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Group 3

Labé

Aged 25-45

Participants selected to represent the unbanked or underbanked


Peri-urban

10 participants

6 women



• 10/10 participants declared not earning money on a regular basis and complained about work stability

• 10/10 participants have a mobile phone which they use for calls

• 10/10 participants listen to the radio regularly (Espace FM) mostly its on as background noise while they go about their daily activities



close to home and don’t really know what products are offered



• 0/10 are employed


• Those that plan mentioned doing it in relation to how much money they receive and spend so this is not always the same.

• 6/10 participants mentioned following planning always depended on emergencies and problems that occur (illness, death etc) which would prompt them to spend money unexpectedly

• 1/10 participants declared having money left over after paying for necessary things, and keeping this money aside



- 10/10 participants go to relatives

- 0/10 mentioned borrowing to pay off debt



• 0/10 mentioned having borrowed more than they could and 0/10 mentioned spending on unnecessary things before food

3/10 mentioned spending money on things that were not necessary and that they couldn’t afford because they wanted something in particular

Savings behavior:

• 2/10 declared having saved money in the past 12 months but they do not save regularly

• All claim their income is too low and they have too many expenses to save regularly

• Participants kept money at the home

• Savings are made for emergency and unexpected expenses



• 5/10 participants declared having money for this

• 6/10 declared unexpected expenses did not happen and if they did it would be quite a problem as they wouldn’t be able to cope


• 10/10 participants mentioned being unready for unexpected expenses because of the highly irregular nature of their cash flows

Borrowing:

• 0/10 participants declared they requested a loan from any financial institution in the past 12 months

• 10/10 participants mentioned not knowing the loan request procedures and having to deal with too much bureaucracy and give too many guarantees

• 10/10 mentioned borrowing from friends in the past 12 months


• It seemed the preferred length of training was 1 hour with preference for the weekend

• 10/10 participants would like to learn more about money management

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Documents

FINANCE, COMPETITIVENESS & INNOVATION …documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/331891528817424815/...3. Existing financial education programs in all three counties were identified that