The Cooperativa Financiera de Antioquia (CFA) is helping empower rural Colombian communities by offering crucial services like financial education, business development, and cooperative training in 37 municipalities. The impact of CFA's work was highlighted during Queen Máxima's visit on 26 February 2024, where the Special Advocate saw firsthand the success of local entrepreneurs.
Client Stories
In Mexico, a Convenience Store Makes Finance Easy
María Teresa Gaytán López met the Special Advocate when she was visiting an OXXO branch in Mexico City to open her first account.
Care for a soda with that savings account?
For millions of low-income customers throughout Mexico, OXXO corner markets are a… Read more
Nigeria's Economic Future Is in Its Hands
The Special Advocate's column on mobile money in Nigeria appeared in three Nigerian papers at the start of her 2017 country visit.
By H.M. Read more
Cultivating Solutions for Farmers
Transforming agriculture can require more than financing. Thanks to technical assistance, business training, market access, and financing, Dinh Xuan Toan has been able to multiply his income significantly, but the process is complex. Photo credit: UNSGSA/Robin… Read more
Wow! A Human-Centered Success Story
In Indonesia, Susanti’s ability to save and pay for her daughter’s schooling has been transformed by a digital financial product created using a human-centered design process.
When development experts think about impact, they think about people like Susanti… Read more
Studying Sucess: In Pakistan, Financial Education and Business Training Transform Lives
Pakistan's Kashf Foundation, which the Special Advocate visited during her trip to Pakistan in 2015, provides small businesswomen with financial education and business training to help build their success. Photo credit: Kashf Foundation
Finding your way as… Read more
For Indonesia, Technology Holds a Key to Financial Inclusion
The Special Advocate's op-ed on financial inclusion in Indonesia appeared Aug. 29, 2016.
By H.M. Queen Máxima of the Netherlands (published in the Jakarta Post, 29 August 2016, leading up the the Special Advocate's visit to Indonesia, 30 Aug.-1… Read more
Stitching a Thread into Bangladesh's Economy
Jharna Islam has built a thriving small business, and plans to expand further.
In the village of Dattopara, north of Dhaka, a businesswoman named Jharna Islam stands in her workshop before racks of clothing—deep red saris threaded in gold, pink and blue… Read more
In Bangladesh, Bringing Financial Inclusion to Rural Doorsteps
In Rajbari, Nilima (far right) checked on her mobile money account after a visit to the bKash agent. Her friend Farzana (left) came with her to open an account, accompanied by Nilima's mother. Photo credit: Ismail Ferdous/UNSGSA
A Visit to Rajbari’s Access… Read more
Financial Inclusion: More Than Money
This op-ed column was published 18 November 2015 in the Bangladeshi papers The Daily Star (in English) and Prothom Alo (in Bengali) during the Special Advocate's Bangladesh country visit. Read more
Financial Inclusion Bears Fruit in the Philippines
About 90 minutes outside Manila in the Philippines, a financial inclusion success story has taken root on a lush three-hectare pineapple farm.
With Melissa and Manuel Garcia at the helm and with the support of a local financial services provider, this small operation has grown over a six-year… Read more
The New Face of Entrepreneurs
Zhou Guozhi's entrepreneurial spirit and careful investments, supported by her first-ever loan, helped her transform a greenhouse operation into a thriving enterprise. Photo credit: UNSGSA/Adam Dean
Farmers? Women? Whatever happened to the MBAs?
In rural… Read more
Creating Opportunity with Peru's UNICAs
Cuando uno lo tiene a la mano, lo gasta”— When you have it in your hand, you spend it.
In a single sentence, a young Peruvian teacher named Beatriz laid out the power of Peru’s UNICAs—Uniónes de Crédito y Ahorro—small self-organized community groups whose members offer each other financial support… Read more
