2023

Digital Payment Solution to Incentivize Rural Health Extension Workers in Ethiopia

Researchers:
  • Davis Bundi Ntwiga
  • Efobi Uchenna
  • Ayalnesh Zemene Yalew
Location:
Ethiopia
Type:
  • Project development grant
Currently, many Health Extension Workers (HEWs) in rural Ethiopia face challenges accessing their payments due to limited financial infrastructure and long distances to financial service centers, which negatively impacts job satisfaction, retention, and...

Linking mobile money to a formal savings account: Experimental evidence from small-scale women agri-processors in Burkina Faso

Researchers:
  • Salamata Loaba
  • Aristide Ouedraogo
  • Kimseyinga Savadogo
  • Salimata Traoré
  • Pam Zahonogo
Location:
Burkina Faso
Type:
  • Pilot project
Small agri-processing activities represent a major source of income for women in rural and urban areas in Sub-Saharan Africa. However, the limited access to formal financing pushes women entrepreneurs to resort to informal financing with the associated risk...

Digital payments and Social protection in Senegal

Researchers:
Location:
Senegal
Type:
  • Project development grant
Currently, cash transfers for social protection programs in Senegal are distributed through a network of post offices. Still, challenges such as accessibility, long travel distances, and outdated beneficiary data hinder the program's effectiveness. This...

2022

Digitalization of Cocoa Value Chain Payments in Ghana

Researchers:
  • Abdul-Basit Tampuli Abukari
  • Adinan Bahahudee Shafiwu
  • Mohammed Tanko
Location:
Ghana
Type:
  • Project development grant
The Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), in partnership with seven licensed buying companies, has introduced an electronic payment system utilizing mobile money and biometric payment cards to enhance efficiency and reduce transaction risks. This proposal explores the...

Community Water and Sanitation Agency Smart Taps in Northern Ghana

Researchers:
  • Salifu Ismaila
  • Mutaka Mohammed Seidu,
  • Mohammed Tanko
Location:
Ghana
Type:
  • Pilot project
Elimination of the cash payment mode in the collection of water revenue is imperative in reducing water waste, managing water resources, ensuring sustainability and shaping rural water supply systems in the country. Our team collaborates with Community Water...

Assessing the effect of digital and flexible payment options on the uptake of health insurance by the Nigerian informal sector

Researchers:
  • Michael Mba
  • Obianuju Nnadozie
  • Owen Omorogbe
  • Evans Osabuohien
  • Nneka Esther Osadolor
Location:
Nigeria
Type:
  • Project development grant
Despite the implementation of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) in 2005, coverage remains low, particularly within the informal sector, which represents 93% of Nigeria’s workforce. This project seeks to evaluate the effect of digital and flexible...

The Role of Digital Finance Platforms in Managing the Fiscal Space and Enhancing the Efficiency of Tax Collection and Administration at Subnational Levels in Nigeria

Researchers:
  • Uzoma Rita Alo
  • Adefisayo Awogbade
  • Abel Ebeh Ezeoha
  • Kemi Funlayo
  • Clementina Kalu
  • Sunday Mlanga
  • Nelson N. Nkwor
  • Uche Kennedy Ohaegbulam
  • Chinwe Okoyeuzu
  • Augustine Ujunwa
Location:
Nigeria
Type:
  • Project development grant
Nigeria faces significant fiscal challenges, compounded by armed conflicts, inefficient tax collection, and widespread revenue leakages, which have weakened governance across its 36 states. This proposal explores the role of digital financial platforms...

Biometric tracking of health workers attendance and maternal and child health outcomes in rural Nigeria

Researchers:
  • Lydia Adeoye
  • Joseph Ajefu
  • Rotimi Mathew
  • Rabi’u Isah Moh’d
Location:
Nigeria
Type:
  • Project development grant
This project investigates the effects of biometric tracking on health workers’ absenteeism and its impact on maternal and child health outcomes in rural Nigeria. Using a randomized evaluation, biometric devices, such as fingerprint scanners, will be introduced...

Leveraging digital finance in Ethiopia: Pilot Study

Researchers:
  • Yesuf Awel
  • Dagim Belay
  • Gebeyehu Manie Fetene
  • Tigist Mekonnen Melesse
  • Firew Bekele Woldeyes
Location:
Ethiopia
Type:
  • Pilot project
Despite having enormous potential for unbanked and marginalized groups and women, mobile phone-based money and digital financing system remain low in developing countries. Using beneficiaries of the Ethiopian Safety Net program, the largest in Africa, this...

Biometric Tracking of School Attendance and Human Capital Formation of Pupils: Evidence from Rural Schools in Nigeria

Researchers:
  • Oluwabunmi Adejumo
  • Uchenna Efobi
  • Chimere Iheonu
  • Obinna Ogwuike
  • Anthony Okon
  • Innocent Orji
Location:
Nigeria
Type:
  • Project development grant
High rates of absenteeism among both teachers and students in rural schools pose a significant challenge to improving educational outcomes and human capital formation, particularly in developing regions. This study proposes the implementation of biometric...

Digitization Effects in Equilibrium

Researchers:
Location:
Ghana
Type:
  • Pilot project
While the economic effects of digitization in developing countries have been studied extensively, the general equilibrium effects of digitizing business payments along the supply chain and on neighboring businesses have been less explored. In this proposal, we...

Smart Together: Advancing targeted digital financing and group management dynamics for inclusive agricultural productivity and prosperity in Nigeria

Researchers:
  • Segun Fakayode
  • Toyin Olowogbon
  • Aaron Yoder
Location:
Nigeria
Type:
  • Project development grant
Smallholder farmers face significant barriers, including financial exclusion and limited access to timely, affordable, and quality farm inputs due to bureaucratic middlemen. This proposal seeks to leverage digital solutions to explore how smallholder farmers...

Improving the supply of mobile money towards better financial inclusion: The case of Democratic Republic of the Congo

Researchers:
  • Zacharie Tsala Dimbuene
  • Roland Pongou
  • Patrick Bakengela Shamba
Location:
Congo
Type:
  • Project development grant
Financial inclusion is a critical component of poverty reduction and sustainable development, particularly in developing countries like the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Despite the potential of mobile money to expand financial services to...

2021

Mass digitization of government transfers in Togo

Researchers:
Location:
Togo
Type:
  • Full project
The Government of Togo has launched an ambitious cash transfer program to provide immediate cash support to poor households that are impacted by COVID-19. The project will assist the government response by improving geographic targeting by building high...

Biometric Tracking of Attendance: Evidence from the Ugandan Health Sector

Researchers:
  • Pius Akankwasa
  • Aleksandra Jakubowski
  • Daniel Posner
  • Elizeus Rutebemberwa
Location:
Uganda
Type:
  • Pilot project
Health worker absenteeism impedes Uganda’s progress towards the sustainable development goals (SDGs) and reduces trust in healthcare system quality and dependability, two factors crucial during difficult times such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Using a randomized...

2020

Digital Transformation and Competition: Evidence from Mobile Money

Researchers:
  • Francis Annan
Location:
Ghana
Type:
  • Pilot project
As digital financial markets evolve, new actors will enter the business environment; thus, influencing market competition. What are the potential impacts of such competitive digital transformation on financial inclusion, innovation and transparency in digital...

Improving Ghana’s National Health Insurance Biometric Card Renewals: A Randomised Control Trial Using Reminders and Moving Renewal Dates

Researchers:
  • Aaron Asibi Abuosi
  • Edward Asiedu
  • Anita Asiowome Adzo Baku
  • John Effah
Location:
Ghana
Type:
  • Pilot project
The aim of the pilot study is to examine how the implementation of the mobile money renewal service by the NHIS can be improved and made more effective and efficient. Specifically, the study would: 1. Determine the most appropriate form of reminder systems for...

Rural Households' Enrolment in Digital Identification and Payment Systems

Researchers:
  • Khadijat Busola Amolegbe
Location:
Nigeria
Type:
  • Project development grant
Despite efforts to implement a unified digital ID system in Nigeria, rural households remain largely excluded due to factors such as location, literacy barriers, and lack of access to registration centers. The project aims to assess current enrollment levels...

Formalizing Informal Taxation: Evidence from the DR Congo

Researchers:
Location:
DRC
Type:
  • Pilot project
This project examines whether formalizing an informal labor tax can reduce its regressive nature and improve citizens’ access to public services. For the informal tax, salongo, citizens contribute labor towards local public good projects such as road...

Cash and Compliance with Social Distancing

Researchers:
Location:
Ghana
Type:
  • Full project
As coronavirus spreads in developing countries, an important question is how to improve the resilience of poor households to its economic ramifications, and facilitate their adherence to calls for social distancing. Lockdowns and social distancing measures...

The Effects of a Universal Basic Income in Kenya

Researchers:
Location:
Kenya
Type:
  • Full project
In 2017, IPA launched a randomized controlled trial in Kenya to test the effectiveness of a Universal Basic Income (UBI) in eradicating extreme poverty. Participants in the study treatment groups have been receiving regular digital cash transfers for over two...

2019

Formalising informal taxation: Evidence from DR Congo

Researchers:
  • Augustin Bergeron
  • Jonathan Weigel
Location:
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Type:
  • Project development grant
Informal taxation, often characterized by non-monetary contributions such as labor for local public goods, plays a significant yet frequently overlooked role in local public finance in developing countries. This proposal addresses the regressive nature of...

The Impact of Biometric Identification Technology Use on Employee Attendance and Payroll Management: Experimental Evidence From Ethiopia Public Service Sector

Researchers:
  • Birku Reta Entele
  • Shibiru Ayalew Melesse
Location:
Ethiopia
Type:
  • Project development grant
The inefficiency and mismanagement of human resources, particularly absenteeism and ghost workers, undermine effective service delivery in the public sector. The project aims to evaluate the impact of biometric identification systems on eliminating ghost...

Digitizing Revenue Collections in Northern Uganda

Researchers:
Location:
Uganda
Type:
  • Pilot project
This project studies the introduction of a digital tax assessment and collection system into local tax administration in Northern Uganda. We will partner with the UNCDF and Ministry of Local Government to measure the impacts of the digitized system on the...

Bringing Property Owners into the Tax Net: Avenues of Fiscal Capacity and Local Governance

Researchers:
Location:
Senegal
Type:
  • Full project
We partnered with the Senegalese tax administration to conduct a randomized evaluation of the introduction of a modernized property tax system in Dakar. This new system includes a modernized registry aggregating geolocated cadastral data with taxpayers’...

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