UNCDF believes that digital innovations are key enablers of financial inclusion. By equipping millions of people by 2024 to use innovative digital services in their daily lives, our vision is to promote digital economies that leave no one behind.

To support refugee and rural communities in Rwanda through innovative digital solutions, UNCDF Rwanda partnered with the Government of Rwanda and local organizations to launch the “Expanding Financial Access and Digital and Financial Literacy (REFAD)” programme in 2019. Funded by Comic Relief and Jersey Overseas Aid, REFAD’s objective is to enhance financial access and improve digital and financial capability for refugees and host communities through saving groups.

With the pandemic and its preventive measures that could not allow in-person gatherings for training, Inkomoko, one of UNCDF’s partners in Rwanda opted for a new remote training delivery technology known as IVR (Interactive Voice Response) to support savings groups.

The IVR is an innovative complement to traditional training methods, offering a high-frequency, cost-effective and measurable solution for providing training to dispersed populations. Individuals are enrolled to receive lessons (audio recordings) on a predetermined and regular, weekly schedule on their mobile phones in their preferred language. Quizzes, answered by dialing digits on phone keypad, are incorporated at the end of every lesson to test their effectiveness and adjust where necessary.

The process of IVR training methods consists of mainly three steps: content development, recordings, and lesson push-out to clients. First, the training content is scripted in an easily understandable and straight forward way to be engaging for listeners; second, the content is recorded in an audio format; lastly, the clients receive a notification message some days before training and pick the call on the training day and listen to a pre-recorded audio, with the possibility to ask questions by reaching out to their assigned Inkomoko advisors later. In case a trainee missed the call, he/she can call back and listen to the pre-recorded audio. The IVR is developed and run by VIAMO, a specialized global social enterprise. After each training session, the platform shares statistics through a dashboard. It is clear to see how many calls were sent out, how many were picked, how many were completed, how many listeners answered the quiz, and how many answered correctly, etc.

The training modules provided for clients via IVR mainly cover saving, digital financial literacy and business skills. For example, clients will receive training on how to form and strengthen saving groups, how to generate business ideas, how to manage business and personal finance, how to get financed, how to do business in Rwanda, etc.

It is worth noting that both receiving and calling back to listen to the training audios is free of charge on the side of trainees. Inkomoko pays all charges related to the use of the platform. Up to now, a total number of 232 saving groups (each saving group has 15 members) located in Kirehe, Nyamagabe, Gisagara and Gatsibo districts have received training via IVR methods, with the majority of trainees (41%) based in Mugombwa whereas the lowest number of trainees is in Kigeme (13%). The average pick up rate is 85% and average completion rate (key lessons) is 71%. The majority (72%) of the trainees were female.

Compared to traditional in-person training methods, the benefits of IVR training are widely recognized by our IVR users in a survey conducted by Inkomoko and UNCDF communication team.

“Many beneficiaries showed positive attitudes towards IVR with reasons of time saving, knowledgeable and helpful training modules, etc. IVR training takes only 5minutes to attend compared to a half day required for traditional training system. This saves time and leads to higher attendance. Besides, IVR trainings are cost effective since no training halls, accommodation for trainers, transport fee, per diem, refreshment (water), meals are required. It is also a great solution in case of uncertainties and difficult conditions for movements and gathering, especially in these difficult times of COVID-19. “ Says Joanne Mugema, Programmes Manager at Inkomoko

Here are stories of the REFAD project beneficiaries who benefited from IVR:

Mukasine Beathe is a 37-year-old businesswoman who lives with her three children in Nyamagabe, a district in the south of Rwanda. In 2019 she joined the Inkomoko programme. “At the beginning of the programme, I used to attend in person training, but due COVID-19 pandemic I started following their training using IVR technology. I am happy with the service received and how I continued my training via phone because it has saved my time as a wholesaler. Moreover, I appreciated the knowledge gained from Inkomoko training. The skills learned supported me to be resilient in the pandemic. I opened my wholesale store in 2015 with an initial capital of 2,000,000 Rwandan Francs (2,000 USD) and it has now grown up to 7,000,000 Rwandan Francs (7,000 USD)”, said Beathe Mukasine.

Mukabarisa Marie Aimee is 41-year-old mother with two children. She lives in Nyamagabe district. She joined the Inkomoko programme in 2019. “I started my business in 2012 selling cosmetics and kitchen utensils. When COVID-19 hit, I had to rely on my capital and merchandises stock to provide for my family because sales were very low during lockdowns. I was happy to get the trainings during the lockdown because the lessons I took through IVR helped me to restart my business and it is now operating well,” said Marie Aimee Mukabarisa.