Five Years of Market Development in Benin, Senegal and Zambia (2015-2019)

In 2014, Mastercard Foundation and UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) partnered to try to replicate and scale a model that had found success in the Pacific region – taking a market development approach to increase digital financial inclusion. Through this partnership, UNCDF was able to expand the Mobile Money for the Poor program (MM4P) and test frameworks created in the Pacific in markets that were not yet “on the map”. Benin, Senegal, and Zambia were the three countries chosen for the project – all with very low digital financial services (DFS) usage rates.

This report compiles all the learnings from five years of market development in three countries. The publication brings forth the voices of customers and the stakeholders with whom UNCDF engaged. Their views offer insight into how the market development approach contributed to the growth of each market. The numbers tell a story of great success: Benin has seen DFS usage rates increase from two to 40 percent, Senegal from 13 to 29 percent, and Zambia from four to 44 percent.