Regulators call for stronger collaborations to close financial inclusion gap

SAMANTHA MADE

Zimbabwe’s financial sector has been urged to intensify cross-industry collaboration and scale up financial education initiatives, as regulators warn that persistent literacy gaps and uneven access to financial services threaten to derail the country’s financial inclusion agenda.

Financial institutions were challenged to recalibrate their strategies at the 2025 Financial Inclusion Conference, where speakers from banking, insurance, telecommunications and regulatory bodies stressed that meaningful inclusion will only be achieved through coordinated efforts and sustained investment in financial capability.

Talent Munyaradzi, Manager for Economics, Tariffs and Competition at the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ), emphasised the urgency of improving digital financial literacy. He said the sector must adopt a more cohesive approach.

“One of the things that we think is necessary is increased collaboration, and our minister and other speakers went to a great length to speak about this,” Munyaradzi said. He argued that education initiatives must be more comprehensive and security-focused. “One of my bosses said, in all security endeavours, if we leave one window open, it is as bad as leaving all the windows and doors open. So we need to ensure that all the windows are closed if we are to ensure that people can access digital financial services confidently.”

Munyaradzi added that users must be encouraged to verify before transacting, store their data securely, and share financial literacy lessons with others as digital services expand.

Representing the Bankers Association of Zimbabwe (BAZ), Lawrence Kupika outlined how banks have invested in strengthening financial capability through digital education, customer-friendly interface design, outreach activities, and partnerships with educational institutions.

“Banks have done a lot of digital education, integration, and customization. You will notice that in some of the digital platforms of banks, we have tips in the apps, we have the service tips, there’s a lot of cybersecurity awareness that happens using SMS, direct communication to our clients,” Kupika said.

He noted that banks are increasingly customising their platforms by integrating local languages and intuitive design features to improve customer engagement. Outreach initiatives—including school visits, media campaigns, and community workshops—have also played a significant role in raising financial literacy levels.

However, Kupika acknowledged the sector’s challenges. “The major issue is around low financial and digital literacy levels. Obviously, some of our platforms could be complicated for our clients.” He added that high infrastructure, software, and connectivity costs, as well as policy unpredictability, increase the cost of serving customers.

Despite these obstacles, he underscored banks’ commitment to advancing financial capability. “Financial inclusion will open doors, but financial capability is what will help people walk through those doors.”

Kupika said banks are prioritising scaled-up financial education, deeper partnership models, and multi-stakeholder collaboration. He stressed that investments in infrastructure, connectivity and interoperability remain essential. “Technology can deliver inclusion, but only capabilities can deliver sustainable inclusion,” he said.

To improve customer engagement, banks are adopting behavioural nudges, including reminders to save and gamified tools that encourage responsible financial behaviour. Kupika also emphasised the need for stronger data and monitoring frameworks to better track financial capability outcomes.

From the insurance sector, Lloyd Gumbo, Public Relations Manager at the Insurance and Pensions Commission (IPEC), highlighted the acute difficulties faced by marginalised communities in accessing insurance, noting that rural areas remain severely underserved.

“It’s very rare to find an insurance company in a rural area because it’s expensive to put up an insurance branch in a rural area,” Gumbo said. High costs and complex processes, he added, restrict low-income earners from formal insurance products.

Gumbo said technology is reshaping access paths, pointing to the country’s 95% mobile penetration rate. “We can take advantage of the mobile technology penetration in the country, which is around 95%,” he said, explaining that mobile-based insurance solutions are bringing coverage within reach for many previously excluded consumers.

He also noted the growing importance of parametric insurance—products that trigger payouts automatically based on predefined data thresholds rather than physical assessments. “Parametric insurance, the insurer does not necessarily need to come and see that we have suffered a loss. All they have to do is to just check the triggers,” he said.

Gumbo said IPEC’s regulatory sandbox is accelerating innovation by giving insurers the space to test new products in a controlled environment. “If you have an innovative idea that seeks to address a problem through an insurance solution, come up with that product, bring it, let’s test it,” he said.

He cited the “Farmers Basket” project as a successful example of parametric insurance in action. The scheme initially insured 1,800 smallholder farmers in Goromonzi, each receiving a US$65 payout to help recover from losses. The programme has since expanded to 20,000 farmers across eight provinces.

“Government and development partners come in with subsidies… If the premium is for $15, maybe government comes with $5 and development partner $5, the farmer $5,” Gumbo explained. “We believe under such an arrangement, it will help the farmers to take up this—remember farmers don’t trust insurers.”