创新基金投资包容性

Innovation FundInvestment Inclusivity Contents Introduction Evaluation questions Impact•To what extent have GSMAIF alumnae contributed to employmentgeneration, poverty reduction, andimproved income and livelihoods?•Who have been the final, end-user recipients of the work of a selectionof GSMA’s innovation fund grants?•How have these users’ livelihoodsbeen impacted by the work of thegrantees?•What characteristics make start-upsmore likely to contribute to povertyreduction, including job creation andlivelihoods strengthening? Thepurposeof this study is toscope*the socioeconomic impactof the GSMA Innovation Fund. Relevance•How has the mobile ecosystem supported the GSMAIF alumni toreach social goals?•How can SMEs working in the digital space can contribute to variousdevelopment outcomes, and whatbarriers to digital uptake are there? This includes:•Exploring the Fund’s long-term impact on poverty alleviation, enhanced livelihoodsandjob creation, with a focus onvulnerable populations.•Taking acase study approach. Fivegrantees initially selected, but only fourcase studies completed due to privacyconstraints preventing access to users’personal details.•Coveringcross-cutting themesof gender,poverty, mobile connectivity and adoption,and youth, rural and urban differentiation.*A scoping study is not an evaluation. Acknowledging thelimited baseline data, the absence of counterfactuals, and the •What has influenced the sustainabilityof the results of the GSMAIF’s grantees? •How could the Innovation Fundstrengthen its ability to reach and fact that employment and poverty not explicit objectives ofthe Innovation Fund. positively affect populations living inpoverty? The study included four Innovation Fund grantees South Africa Nepal Ethiopia Uganda Climate-smart agriculturaladvice to smallholder farmersvia SMS and mobile app.GRANT DETAILS App-based platformconnecting home serviceproviders with customers.GRANT DETAILS Smart fire alarms and low-costinsurance for people living ininformation settlements.GRANT DETAILS Providing digital bankingservices to underserved communities, helping savingsorganisations.GRANT DETAILS Ecosystem AcceleratorProgramme and AcceleratedGrowth Round of the IF. 2022 climate resilience andadaptation round. GSMA M4H Innovation FundRound 1: Disaster Response in2018. different IF rounds between 2018 and 2024. Methodology Surveys•20~30-minute surveys Reviews•Evidence and data from Discussions (FGDs)•3 FGDs per grantee with (where applicable)•More personal Interviews (KIIs)•3-day visit to with 400 - 1,000respondents pergrantee•Information:demographics, userexperience, impact,challenges and enablers existing documentationand the literature•Information: additionalcontext, experiencefrom other SMEs in thedigital spaceand unstructured,allowing for a deeperexploration of individualperspectives. different types of usersand agents•Information: deeperinsights about surveyresults, exploring widerimpact(s) stakeholders relevant tothe grantees and theirecosystem•Information: ecosystembarriers, enabling andinfluencing factors,sustainability Key Findings 02Innovation Fund grantees 03Digital and mobile 04Job creation is limited, with low rates ofquality and dignifiedemployment.While there is evidence of improve livelihoodsand increase financialresilience across userbases.While all users reported improved technology is animportant pathway, butoffline engagement iscritical for impact.While digital innovations play Users tend to be fromeconomically vulnerablecommunities.This was consistent for all grantees included in the study.While the study confirms thatusers draw from lower economicgroups, they are not from thelowest socioeconomic quintiles.This is to be expected, asInnovation Fund grantees requireaccess to, at the very least, amobile phone to engage withservices, and a degree of digitalliteracy to use them. improved livelihoods andincreased resilience, there islimited evidence that these effortshave resulted in the creationof dignified and valuable jobs.Where jobs are being created,they are often highly valuedbecause of high unemploymentrates. A positive impact is theincreased consistency of income.However, several risks andunintended consequences mustbe considered: the absence offormal contracts, low wages, andworker safety concerns, all ofwhich limit the overall benefits ofthese jobs. livelihoods and a sense offinancial security, the mostsignificant impact is the tangibleboost to users’ resilience thatcomes from increased assetsecurity (Lumkani), and theability to access information andfinancial services that can supportincome generation (Ensibuuko,GeoKrishi).a critical role in all solutionsincluded in the IFII study,offline engagement is criticalto onboarding new users andensuring that existing usersremain active on granteeplatforms. This often takes theform of identifying first-time users(Lumkani, GeoKrishi, Ensibuuko,TaskMoby), and training users onhow to acc