Ex-post evaluation: Expanding Financial Inclusion in Africa - Final Report

This report describes the findings of an ex-post evaluation of the Expanding Financial Inclusion (EFI) program, delivered by Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and implementing partners in Burkina Faso, Senegal, Zambia and Uganda, from 2013 to 2017. Within EFI, Private Service Providers (PSPs) form and support Savings and Internal Lending Communities (SILC), providing the opportunity for vulnerable families to access easy, safe and regular opportunities to pool their savings, make loans to each other and earn dividends.

The evaluation aimed to assess the extent to which the PSPs and SILC groups were still functioning 19 months after the program end, and the extent to which the PSP model has contributed to the sustainability of activities and results.

Among other findings, the evaluation found that many PSPs are continuing to form new groups despite the end of the EFI project, that the total number of SILC groups has increased by 56%, that almost all PSPs earn enough from SILC work to be better off than they were before, and PSPs’ ongoing SILC work has reduced the per-member cost of SILC group creation from USD 13.91 to USD 9.03, demonstrating an improvement in the value for money of the EFI project since its closure.