Financial Tech: Global South

3 Credits · Level: Graduate, Undergraduate

Full Title: Financial Technologies in the Global South. Course Description: An estimated 2.5 billion people exist outside of formal financial systems. Government officials, development experts, and finance professionals argue that this is a major obstacle for issues of economic growth and national development, as well as social justice, education, and gender equality. Programs to incorporate more people into networks of global finance are often grouped under the term “financial inclusion” which describes the different theories, policies, and technologies that aim to extend financial products and services to people around the world. This course examines how “financial inclusion” emerged as a major development goal and provides students with a deeper knowledge of the ways in which financial technologies are restructuring economic lives throughout the Global South. Over the course of the semester we will analyze the relationship between financial technologies, institutions, and policy agendas and how resulting projects have been designed and implemented throughout Latin America, North Africa and the Middle East, Sub-Saharan Africa, and South Asia. Specific technologies and projects we will cover include Bolsa Familia and Progresa social welfare programs, microcredit and microfinance, digital remittances, M-Pesa mobile money, climate change and agriculture crop insurance, CreditVidya credit scoring, cryptocurrency and blockchain. By the end of the course, students will better understand the relationship between governments, international development agencies, and private industry in expanding access to global finance systems, and be able to critically analyze and compare the promises and outcomes of financial inclusion initiatives.