As COVID-19 continues its march, how have families in West Africa weathered income shocks, disruptions to education, and strains on public health systems? What trends have emerged in households’ coping mechanisms when facing food insecurity and employment losses? What portion of respondents is committed to getting vaccinated? How is each government responding to these challenges, how have messaging strategies persisted or changed over time, and what can decision-makers learn from each other?These and other questions have been at the forefront of decision-makers’ minds while forming policy responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in Sierra Leone, Côte d’Ivoire, and Burkina Faso.

From April 28-29, researcher Russell Toth presented the results of his study on the economic impact of digital loans on mobile money agents in Myanmar at the 12th Annual Mobile Money & Financial Inclusion Summit. The Summit is the established platform bringing the industry stakeholders in the mobile money and financial inclusion eco-system together to discuss the latest regulatory, industry, and technological developments and opportunities.This year's summit explored the challenges and opportunities of the rapidly changing landscape with emphasis on the digital agenda, operational delivery, customer strategy, and cross-industry collaboration.

On April 28, IPA presented at the Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) and the Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI) co-hosted virtual training on Consumer Protection and Financial Education for Digital Financial Services (DFS).The training included technical staff of AFI member institutions who are involved in the formulation and implementation of policies and regulations focusing on consumer protection for DFS and digital financial literacy.