Barbara Scola

Senior Financial Sector Specialist

Barbara Scola works with CGAP’s Sector Support team. She conducts research and develops tools to support development agencies in their financial inclusion efforts. Her research projects focus on the role of funders in supporting policy reform processes and the positioning of financial inclusion in funders' strategies and organizational structures.

In 10 years as a CGAP staff member and consultant, Barbara has helped CGAP members improve transparency and the effectiveness of financial inclusion funding. Before joining CGAP, she was a technical adviser for a German Development Cooperation project on strengthening the institutional and regulatory environment of the microfinance sector in Tunisia.

Barbara has a Master’s degree in International Affairs from the University of St. Gallen and the Institute of Political Science in Paris, where she specialized in development studies. She is based in Paris and is fluent in German and French.

By Barbara Scola

Blog

5 Highlights in Financial Inclusion Funding

Funder commitments to financial inclusion reached a historic high of $37 billion in 2016. See what else the latest CGAP funder survey reveals.
Blog

What Donors Can Learn From the FSD Experience

The FSD Network's efforts to make markets work for the poor contain useful lessons for donors – among them, that giving market facilitators room be flexible leads to results.
Research

Development Finance Institutions and Financial Inclusion

It is time for DFIs to adopt an alternative approach to financial inclusion that prioritizes needed market changes. A shift to a market systems approach addresses this need and requires that DFIs carefully analyze each market to determine the key gaps, underlying causes, critical actors, and theory of change for bringing about sustainable market development.
Blog

Supporting Digital Financial Services? 5 Lessons for Funders

A recent survey of financial inclusion funders revealed that a majority plan to increase their focus on digital financial services in the future. What should funders know when considering support of digital financial services?
Blog

Practical Tools for a New Approach to Financial Inclusion Funding

What does it mean to take a systemic approach to financial inclusion? Learn more from these selected resources on market systems development.