Staff Directory

Gerhard Coetzee

Advisor

Gerhard Coetzee leads an outcome area in CGAP that aims to Foster a Responsible Enabling Ecosystem for inclusive finance. His team works on the regulatory frontier and financial inclusion, responsible digital finance ecosystems, and gender-focused guidance for policymakers and regulators.

Gerhard is an Extraordinary Professor at the University of Stellenbosch Business School. Before CGAP, he was Head of Inclusive Banking at Absa Bank (South Africa), responsible for its digital money proposition. Gerhard was the founder and Director of the Centre for Inclusive Banking in Africa and a Professor of Agricultural Economics at the University of Pretoria. He was the technical lead and CEO of ECIAfrica (a consulting firm owned by DAI). He had several senior roles focused on policy at the Development Bank of Southern Africa. His specialization areas are inclusive finance, development finance, agricultural finance and rural development. He has been published widely and worked in several countries, the majority in Africa.

Gerhard holds a Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics from the University of Pretoria, South Africa.

By Gerhard Coetzee

Blog

It’s Time to Change the Equation on Consumer Protection

For financial inclusion to work for the poor, it’s time to move beyond consumer protection frameworks that are more about protecting providers than customers.
Research

Customer-Centric Guide

The CGAP Customer-Centric Guide explores challenges, strategies, and actions that lead to value for the business and for the customer.
Research

The Business Case for Customer Centricity

Generating greater value for customers is good for business. Research from a developed market context has found that customer retention leads to a decrease in operating costs, while a decrease in customer satisfaction leads to a decrease in return on investment.
Research

Customer Centricity and Financial Inclusion

Customer centricity provides significant opportunity for financial inclusion service providers to tackle and overcome the very real challenges that threaten their organizational sustainability and growth.This Brief touches on lessons learned about customer centricity in other industries.
Blog

How Absa Bank Empowered its Customers through Games

A case study from Absa Bank in South Africa demonstrates how games can help empower their customers and encourage them to use mobile financial services.