On 31 January 2018, IPA Rwanda presented at the Economic Policy Research Network (EPRN) conference, which brought together around 200 individuals in the economic and financial sectors in Rwanda.The conference was organized by the National Bank of Rwanda (BNR) in collaboration with EPRN.IPA presented the preliminary results of its recently concluded study on "The Impact of Financial Education through Savings and Credit Cooperatives in Rwanda." IPA has recently signed an MoU with EPRN as a key player in research & economic development.

Co-hosted by the Access to Information (a2i) Program of the Prime Minister’s Office and Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) Synopsis The SME sector has the potential to be a driving force of economic growth and employment creation in Bangladesh; however, a host of market and firm-level challenges are holding back this sector from achieving its full potential.

Principal Investigator Doug Randall and Senior Research Associate Emmanuel Hakizimfura for the Financial Education through Savings and Credit Cooperatives (SACCOs) in Rwanda project shared preliminary results which showed very positive effects of training SACCO members on financial management, saving, budgeting and other aspects of financial literacy.However, no impacts were found on account usage, borrowing behavior, or financial security, highlighting the challenge of translating changes in knowledge and attitudes into behavioral change.The preliminary results brief is attached to this page, and a more technical paper with quantitative results is currently being drafted.