The Center for Technology Innovation at Brookings today launched the 2015 Brookings Financial and Digital Inclusion Project (FDIP) Report and Scorecard, which evaluates access to and usage of affordable financial services across 21 countries. According to Brookings’ FDIP analysis, South Africa achieved a top score and ranked second among the countries for its financial inclusion efforts.
Brookings experts John D. Villasenor, Darrell M. West, and Robin J. Lewis analyzed the financial inclusion landscape in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Malawi, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, the Philippines, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Turkey, Uganda, and Zambia. Countries received scores and rankings based on 33 indicators spanning four dimensions: country commitment, mobile capacity, regulatory environment, and adoption.
South Africa earned 80 percent of the total possible points to garner the top overall score. Other highlights of South Africa’s performance metrics include:
- Ranked in 12th place for country commitment.
- Ranked number one for mobile capacity, achieving a 100 percent score.
- Ranked in 17th place for regulatory environment.
- Ranked in 3rd place for adoption.
- South Africa tied for the highest score for formal account penetration, including among rural, low-income, and female groups.
