ObjectivesFund scope
With an adult population of 40 million, 25 million Congolese deal with inequality on a daily basis, a large number do not use any sort of financial service. Additionally, 19 million live in remote, rural areas with only 7 million being able to directly access formal banking services. Compared to other countries in the region, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) ranks lowest in terms of financial inclusion.
ACTIF DRC closes gaps in economic inclusion through the promotion of socio-economic equality. Programmes are designed to connect millions of Congolese with contemporary financial tools and services while also strengthening the country’s financial sector.
Initiatives contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), primarily those related to poverty alleviation, inclusive growth, and reduction of inequalities. Fund stakeholders meet national poverty alleviation objectives by aligning programmes with priorities laid out in the DRC National Roadmap for Financial Inclusion—a framework that plans to reach 300,000 low income beneficiaries (women and young people in particular) living in rural areas by 2021.
Strategic and results framework
By focusing on end users ACTIF DRC can apply contextually relevant approaches to provide financial services and products for hundreds of thousands of Congolese living in remote areas. This makes good on targets laid out in the National Roadmap for Financial Inclusion but also hits the 2030 Agenda objective to “Leave no one behind.”
Programmes are designed to achieve a series of outcomes, which include:
- Strengthening the capacity of financial service providers to develop innovative methodologies adapted to the specific needs of women, men, and young people—agricultural labourers and micro-entrepreneurs especially.
- Improving the management skillsets of institutional managers and intermediaries.
- Developing digital payment and shipment systems accessible to all consumers, as well as increasing the percentage of internal and cross-border remittances.
- Strengthening policy, regulatory, and institutional frameworks of the financial sector to better contribute to the implementation of the National Roadmap for Financial Inclusion.
Knowledge and lessons learned from the programme are shared with stakeholders.