How agent networks are extending bank access points, lowering delivery costs, and expanding financial services in underserved rural markets.

In rural districts like Bo, Kenema, and Kailahun, accessing basic financial services remains a daily challenge. Bank branches are often far, transaction costs are high, and financial literacy remains limited. As a result, many people continue to operate outside the formal financial system.

Today, fewer than 20 percent of adults in Sierra Leone have access to formal financial services such as account opening, deposits, and loans, with access even more limited in rural and farming communities. The gap is even wider for women, with only around 15 percent financially included. For many households, farmers and small businesses, this limits their ability to save securely, manage income, access payments and build a financial history.

The hidden cost of financial exclusion

For many people in Sierra Leone, accessing basic financial services requires time, money, and long travel. For instance, in Kailahun District, a predominantly rural area near the borders with Liberia and Guinea, formal banking infrastructure remains limited and unevenly distributed.

This gap is visible in everyday life across rural towns in the district. In Pendembu, residents often travel up to 27 km to reach the nearest bank branch in Kailahun town. In Daru, customers can spend up to SLE 140 (around $6–7) on transport to access banking services in Kenema, the nearest major city.

For smallholder farmers and traders, this is not a simple transaction. It often means leaving farms and businesses for an entire day, losing income, and delaying critical financial decisions. As a result, many rely on informal systems or remain excluded, limiting their ability to save, invest, and grow.

Distance to access: redefining proximity

To address these challenges, UNCDF, through the EU-funded Salone Access to Finance project, and in partnership with Guaranty Trust Bank (GTb) and Rokel Commercial Bank (RCb), has expanded agency banking networks across underserved areas.

Through this model, banks appoint and train local agents who operate from shops or community points to deliver services such as deposits, withdrawals, transfers, and account opening. This allows banks to extend their reach without the cost of full branch infrastructure, while enabling customers to access services closer to where they live and work.

As a result, banking is moving closer to where people live and work. Today, 222 community-based agents provide services such as deposits, withdrawals, transfers, and account opening directly within local communities across three districts. In Bo District, 82 agents have been deployed. Kenema hosts 68 agents. In Kailahun, where access was once most limited, 72 agents now extend services into some of the country’s most remote areas.

By turning trusted local businesses into access points for formal finance, the initiative is helping change the economics of rural service delivery. It reduces costs for customers, expands the reach of banks, and creates a more viable model for serving low-income and rural markets.

Caption: Sammuella George, a newly deployed bank agent in Bo District and a member of the Village Savings and Loan Association (VSLA). Photo Credit: @UNCDF/Sierra Leone.

Women at the center of change

The impact of the initiative goes beyond improving access to financial services. It is also creating local economic opportunities through the deployment and training of over 220 community-based banking agents across Bo, Kenema, and Kailahun districts, including 87 women and 56 youth.

For Samuella C.W. George, one of these agents, becoming a Guaranty Trust Bankagent in July 2025 marked a turning point, both for her own economic empowerment and for the community she serves.

Operating from her locality in Bo town, Samuella now supports an average of 520 customers each month, facilitating transactions worth approximately SLE 14,000 (around $600–650). Many of her customers are smallholder farmers and traders, who rely on her services to manage their income, save securely, and access cash without leaving their communities. Through her services, customers can open accounts, deposit and withdraw funds, and monitor their balances and transactions.

Her experience reflects a broader shift. Agents like Samuella are transforming how banking is delivered in rural areas, bringing services closer to where people live and work while generating income through their own businesses.

Bringing financial services closer to farmers

As agency banking expands across rural districts, its impact is especially visible among farming communities. The model is designed to match how their incomes flow. Earnings come with the harvest and must last through the season.

With financial services now available within their communities, farmers can save securely when income is high and access their funds during lean periods, without leaving their farms or businesses for an entire day. They can also track transactions and plan ahead with greater confidence.

To support this shift, access is combined with the development of practical skills. Through the initiative, more than 2,080 farmers and members of Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs), including 1,186 women and a majority of youth, have been trained to use digital financial services. Many now rely on Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD), a simple mobile phone feature that works without internet, to check balances, send money, and manage their accounts directly from their phones.

This combination of nearby access points and practical digital financial skills is important. Access alone does not guarantee usage. By helping people understand and use available services, the initiative is supporting more regular engagement with the formal financial system.

Caption: Alhaji Juana Gallah of Bewala - a newly engaged bank agent in Pendembu, Kailahun District and is also the owner of a fuel station. Photo Credit: @UNCDF/Sierra Leone

Where access becomes opportunity

What was once defined by distance, cost, and exclusion is now delivered locally through trusted community members. In this model, access and opportunity move together. Agents like Samuella generate income, build businesses, and strengthen their economic position, while expanding access to essential financial services within their communities.

Through the partnership between UNCDF, the European Union, and private sector banks, agency banking networks have expanded rapidly, increasing the number of agents from 500 to 722 across the country. At the same time, investments in digital financial literacy have reached more than 1.8 million people, while USSD services have made financial tools accessible without the need for internet access.

As Sierra Leone continues to expand its digital financial ecosystem, agency banking offers a scalable model for extending financial services into underserved rural markets. Households can carry out transactions locally, while farmers and small businesses are better able to manage their income flows throughout the season. At the same time, the expansion of agent networks is creating local economic opportunities, with agents generating income and building businesses within their communities.