In the Solomon Islands, underdeveloped infrastructure and a population spread across hundreds of islands makes the provision of financial services extremely challenging. The Central Bank of Solomon Islands (CBSI), in collaboration with national stakeholders, is tackling this through various initiatives.
“70% of our population lives in rural areas, and do not have access to formal financial services or products,” says CBSI Governor, Dr Luke Forau. “Both microfinance and youSave address this, and form part of our financial inclusion effort in the country.”
youSave, a voluntary saving scheme designed for the self-employed, was launched in 2017 by the Solomon Islands National Provident Fund (SINPF), with the technical support of the United Nations Capital Development Fund, and funding assistance by the Government of Australia.
“youSave has seen remarkable growth and success since it launched,” says Assistant Manager Informal Sector, Roger Bird. “54% of our members are women, highlighting youSave’s contribution to gender equality in financial services. The use of the mobile channel has been instrumental, and has made savings more accessible and convenient for individuals who may not have easy access to physical branches.”
SPBD Microfinance, meanwhile, has disbursed more than 31,000 microloans in the Solomon Islands since it was founded in 2012, worth over $175M SBD. “At SPBD we bring financial services to our members, not the other way around”, says SPBD General Manager, Raymond McCarthy. “SPBD removes the collateral requirement by providing unsecured credit in the form of small microloans to all of our members, basing it on trust and peer accountability. We try to empower them through credit to be more financially literate, in order to manage their businesses effectively”.
Both initiatives align with the country’s National Financial Inclusion Strategy 2021 – 2025, which seeks to “ensure all Solomon Islanders have access to a range of quality and affordable financial services and products, and are competent to use them to increase their resilience and improved livelihood within the growing digital economy.”
You can learn more about this topic in our short video, produced with the kind support of the Central Bank of Solomon Islands.