Anup Singh

Associate Director

Anup Singh leads MSC’s regional office in Anglophone Africa and heads the Helix Institute based in Nairobi, Kenya. With 16 years of experience, his expertise includes the digital transformation of financial institutions, digital readiness assessment of social protection programs, digital credit scoping, design and policy, training programs, and FinTech mapping, scoping, and policy design.

Anup has advised more than 150 institutions, including governments, FinTechs, financial institutions, investors, and multilateral organizations in Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia, and South Africa in the African continent, and India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Vietnam, Myanmar, China, Papua New Guinea in the Asian continent. He has also trained at the Boulder Institute of Microfinance, Italy, in 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2021.

A few examples of his recent work are as follows:

  • Quality and usage of digital financial services by open-air market and cross-border women traders in Kenya for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. (2021-23)
  • Assessment of best practices in digital credit by micro-entrepreneurs for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. (2022)
  • Landscaping of agent lending and recruitment practices for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. (2022)
  • Development of East Africa strategy 2022-30 for the Financial Services for the Poor (FSP), Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. (2021-22)
  • Assessment of agent network management in Kenya, Côte d’Ivoire, and Mozambique for GSMA. (2021-22)
  • Research on personal financial investment and wealth management for FSDU in Uganda. (2021)
  • Technical assistance to the Financial Technology and Service Providers Association (FITSPA) members to comply with the NPS Act and regulations for FSDU in Uganda. (2021)
  • Strategy and digital transformation plan for SMFI-Shabelle Bank funded by Mercycorps in Ethiopia. (2021)
  • Conducted an assessment of additionality and customer protection risk of the African Guarantee Fund (AGF) for CDC. (2021)
  • Development of Awash Bank’s digital financial services strategy and implementation plan funded by Awash Bank in Ethiopia. (2020-22)
  • Development of an Integrated Farmer Services platform investment for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in Rwanda. (2020)
  • Strategy development for the CRDB Foundation to focus on corporate social responsibility activities for CRDB Group in Tanzania. (2020)
  • The feasibility of building an interoperable state-wide digital payment infrastructure funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in Kaduna state, Nigeria. (2020)
  • Formulation of the proof of concept for Responsible Digital Transformation Lab (ReDiLab) funded by AFD across the globe. (2020)
  • Feasibility study for the transformation of BRAC Liberia and BRAC Sierra Leone to deposit-taking institutions funded by BIHBV. (2020)
  • Design thinking to refine personal retirement programs for the mass market funded by ICEA LION in Liberia and Sierra Leone. (2020)
  • Development of customer journeys and wireframes for the product roadmap of the Rwanda National Digital Payments Strategy, funded by Access to Finance Rwanda: Led the team that built the user journey and interface for the Rwanda National Digital Payments Strategy. (2019-20)
Before joining MSC, Anup worked as an Associate with the Centre for Microfinance in Chennai. He advised various financial institutions, such as Fullerton, Cashpor, and Spandana, to design and implement enterprise financing and value chain lending products. Anup also worked with agricultural finance and livelihood services providers, such as BAIF and BILT, to develop and re-engineer value chains. He holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Forest Management from the Indian Institute of Forest Management, Bhopal, India. Anup is fluent in English and Hindi.

Posts by Anup Singh

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs)- Kenya report

This report highlights findings from the second round of the dipstick research jointly funded by MSC and SCBF. It captures a detailed analysis of the impact of COVID-19 on micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and their coping strategies. The report further provides recommendations for policymakers and financial service providers to support MSMEs.

Sustaining savings groups linked to financial institutions amid the COVID-19 crisis

In this blog, we look at some of the recommendations put across by MSC on how savings groups can cope with the “new normal life” that has been brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic, overcome the economic shocks, and build resilience against similar future pandemics.

Survival, recovery, and building resilience: Transformation of financial institutions in the times of COVID-19 – Part 2

This blog looks at how financial institutions can build upon the survival strategies to recover and transform during the COVID-19 pandemic and afterward.

Coping with COVID-19 in Kenya

This report offers a glimpse into the remarkable achievements, underlying challenges, and new opportunities amid the COVID-19 pandemic on the low and middle income (LMI) segment in Kenya.

Survival, recovery, and building resilience: Transformation of financial institutions in the times of COVID-19 – Part 1

The COVID 19 global pandemic has affected the lives, health, and livelihoods of entrepreneurs, and they have been struggling to repay loans from financial institutions. This blog highlights recommendation from MSC for financial institutions to survive in the wake of COVID-19.

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs)- Kenya report

This report provides a detailed country-level view of the impact of COVID-19 on micro, small, and medium enterprises in Kenya. It also highlights their coping strategies and provides recommendations for policymakers and financial service providers to support them.

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on CICO agents- Uganda report

This report explores the impact of COVID-19 on CICO agents in Uganda. It also highlights the strategies agents adopted to stay afloat during the pandemic and provides recommendations for policymakers and financial service providers to support these agents better.

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on CICO agents- Kenya report

This report highlights the impact of COVID-19 on CICO (cash-in and cash-out) agents in Kenya and the issues they have faced while delivering financial services since the onset of the pandemic. It also offers recommendations to policymakers and digital financial service providers to address key concerns and help CICO agents continue their services.