Examining ways to promote mobile money use in refugee-hosting areas in Ethiopia

Digital financial inclusion is important to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals—supporting reduced poverty and hunger, better health, and greater gender equality, among many others. Digital financial tools, such as mobile money, can be used by anyone with a cell phone. So in refugee-hosting areas, digital financial inclusion can potentially play a role in improving the economic inclusion of refugees.

To promote digital financial inclusion in the Somali region of Ethiopia, the Strengthening Host and Refugee Populations in Ethiopia (SHARPE) has partnered with Shabelle Bank to expand the reach of the HelloCash mobile money service in refugee-hosting areas. We outlined these efforts, supported by IFPRI researchers, in a previous blog post.