Description of the programme
YouthStart (YS) was a pilot programme implemented by the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) from 2010 to 2015 and funded by the MasterCard Foundation. It aimed to promote financial inclusion among young people aged 12-24 years, in eight Sub-Saharan African countries. Ten financial service providers (FSPs) across the eight countries received grants and technical assistance to offer savings opportunities and financial education to young people, particularly females. The programme exceeded its targets, reaching 515,000 participants.
The study
The evaluation took place from January to July 2015, commencing with management information and documentary analysis. Visits were conducted to eight of the 10 FSPs in six of the eight countries where the project was implemented. Research questions explored by the study included:
- How relevant and well-designed was the programme to promote the financial inclusion of young people?
- Did the programme build the capacity of financial service providers to reach young people and deliver financial products and non-financial services?
- Was the programme influenced by broader youth financial inclusion settings in the operating countries?
- What changes did the programme bring about for participants and participating organisations?
The evaluation applied a mixed methods approach and was based on a data collection and analysis toolkit. The analysis explored outcomes at different levels: context (global, macro, meso, market level), partner organisations (micro level) and clients (participants).
Key findings
The programme reported success in increasing financial inclusion among participants, and strengthened the institutional capacity of the financial service providers’ involved.
The main findings of the study were:
Reach:
- The programme reached 515,000 young people, which was more than double the target.
- Whilst FSPs met their outreach target of 50% women, they failed to achieve the target number of women engaged. The study was unable to identify best practice in engaging women in financial inclusion activities.
Outcomes for young people:
- Clients appreciated the availability of tailored financial services. This increased clients’ financial capabilities to manage money and generate income (through increased savings or investment in business activities).
- The availability of financial services helped improve young people’s self-esteem and independence.
- There was no statistically significant correlation between improved access to adequate financial products and access to economic opportunities or improvement in living standards.
- Several FSPs integrated financial services and education into a broader set of youth initiatives which may have a long-term impact on clients.
Outcomes for FSPs:
- The programme was successful in promoting changes to FSPs’ strategies to include tailored services for young people. It also helped promote a youth-friendly attitude among staff, despite initial scepticism.
- Savings products and financial education services introduced as a result of the programme were very successful. The programme generated a total of $14.8 million in savings during its first three years.
- The uptake of credit products was low, partly due to the target group, which included many economically inactive young adults.
- The most successful financial education model combined financial products (savings and credit) with non-financial services (financial education as well as vocational and entrepreneurship training).
Macro, meso and market level outcomes:
- Overall UNCDF fulfilled its role as promoter of youth financial inclusion at the global level. However at the regional and national level there was limited interaction with macro and meso level stakeholders.
- Dissemination activities primarily focused on global stakeholders and were therefore less effective at the national and regional levels.
- The programme influenced the informal norms and attitudes within the communities in which the FSPs operated.
Sustainability:
- Only two of the 10 FSPs were making a profit from youth products at the time of the evaluation.
- Despite not being profitable, all but one of the FSPs had incorporated youth products into their main services. After three years, the initial investment to offer youth products was sustained by most of the participating organisations. However, some FSPs were planning to scale down the level of provision.
Points to consider
Methodological limitations:
- A key challenge was limited data availability and delays in obtaining data from FSPs. The evaluation team sought to address these gaps by identifying other sources of information.
- A lack of baseline data and a relatively short time frame for the evaluation, made it difficult to assess causal relationships between the intervention and client outcomes.
- Data limitations and time constraints also meant it was not possible to develop a counterfactual/control group for the evaluation.
Generalisability/ transferability:
- Learning from the YouthStart pilot could help raise awareness and promote the development of financial inclusion support services for young people in other contexts.
- Given the scale of the programme, there is potential to generalise/ transfer findings, to inform the development of interventions in other settings.
