CGAP

The best time to finance a disaster? Before it happens.

When Hurricane Melissa struck Jamaica, the country didn't scramble for funding. It already had $662 million in prearranged financing ready to deploy.

No emergency negotiations. No drawn-down reserves. Just rapid action.

In this op-ed published by Devex , Nigel Clarke, a deputy managing director at the International Monetary Fund, and Sophie Sirtaine, CEO of CGAP and World Bank Group global director for financial services, draw on Jamaica's experience to make the case that disaster preparedness must be financial as well as physical, and that the tools to get there already exist.

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The best time to finance emergency recovery is before disaster strikes Opinion: Jamaica had $662 million in prearranged financing ready when Hurricane Melissa hit. Its experience shows why disaster preparedness must be financial as well as physical.

“Better lending, not more lending” was the overriding conclusion from our recent webinar on the future of inclusive credit.

Thanks to Sophie Sirtaine, Alex Counts, and Dr Jemimah Njuki for a wide-ranging discussion on the sector’s achievements and shortcomings, the challenge of over-commercialization, and the danger of reducing the debate to whether microcredit is simply “good” or “bad.”

A few key takeaways:
✅ Credit is neither a miracle nor a failure, but a high-variance tool. Outcomes depend on who is borrowing, why they are borrowing, the terms and design of the product, how it is delivered, and the wider context in which people live and work.
✅ Credit isn’t always the answer. For low-income communities, it should be one tool within a broader ecosystem of financial services and other financial and non-financial tools.
✅ Stronger consumer protection, better incentives, and more client-centred models are all essential to the sector’s future.

Watch the full debate here: https://cgap.pub/3TshQjE

📢 A new independent evaluation confirms that FinDev Gateway remains a trusted and highly relevant knowledge platform for the financial inclusion community.

Drawing on 408 survey responses, 48 interviews across four language communities, and engagement data, the evaluation found that users particularly value FinDev’s editorial quality, neutrality, practical relevance, and ability to bring together diverse perspectives.

For more than 25 years, FinDev has helped practitioners, policymakers, regulators, researchers, and funders stay informed, find credible resources, share experience, and learn across regions and languages. In an increasingly crowded and fragmented information environment, that role is more important than ever.

➡ Read the independent evaluation and CGAP’s management response to learn how we plan to strengthen FinDev and carry this work forward: https://cgap.pub/4fDhbmX

➡ We would also love to hear from you: How has FinDev supported your work, and what would you like to see from the platform in the years ahead?

What if the data used to trace cocoa from bean to bar could also help women farmers access finance?

We look at how traceability, digital payments & financial capability could help turn women smallholders' supply-chain visibility into financial visibility: https://cgap.pub/4b2TNhk

Global financial fraud losses are estimated at $579 billion in 2025, driven by GenAI deepfakes, real-time payment speeds, social media, and sophisticated cross-border criminal networks.

This crisis is eroding consumer trust and actively reversing financial inclusion gains.

Isolated financial regulations are no longer enough to stop these complex fraud chains — an ecosystem approach is what's needed. Unified, cross-sector coordination between financial regulators, other relevant authorities, social media platforms, and law enforcement will be key to protecting consumers.

Learn more in our latest blog: https://cgap.pub/4fpLSfk

Please note the new date: our webinar on microfinance and the evidence is now on July 24.

Microfinance is once again at the center of public debate. Join us for a timely discussion on what the evidence shows, what decades of practice have taught us, and how to move beyond whether microfinance "works or doesn't work" toward understanding what it actually takes for credit to benefit borrowers and drive development impact.

We're taking questions in advance by end of day ET on July 22—submit yours before joining.

Register: https://www.cgap.org/events/is-microfinance-debate-missing-point

Submit questions: https://forms.office.com/r/UXtAggNBbt

Smallholder farmers are vital to feeding the world. Yet only 10% have access to finance–contributing to an estimated $170 billion financing gap.

The challenge is structural. Data on smallholders is fragmented across cooperatives, savings groups, satellite providers, and government registries. No single lender can see the full picture of a farmer's productivity, cash flow, assets, and risk. As a result, many viable borrowers remain invisible to the formal financial system.

The data and technology to change this already exist. By linking data-sharing systems and AI, lenders can build fuller profiles, improve credit scoring, and lower the cost to serve.

Linking the right financial services to the right data infrastructure can help close the smallholder financing gap – turning the invisible into the investable.

Learn more 👇