Ishita Sharma

Analyst

Ishita Sharma worked as a Manager in the Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance domain of MSC India

Ishita is a financial inclusion consultant with experience of working with microfinance institutions, microinsurance providers, NBFIs and SME focussed financial institutions in South Asian markets including India, Bangladesh, Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam. Her key areas of work include microfinance, savings, SME finance, micro-insurance, and pensions. Her areas of expertise include project management, market research, landscape studies, analysis through behavior mapping, institutional capacity building, and strategic business planning.

Posts by Ishita Sharma

The Landscape of Climate and Disaster Risk Insurance (CDRI)

MSC, with support from GIZ, conducted a landscape study to understand the status of climate and disaster risk insurance in South and Southeast Asia and Oceania. This report provides recommendations to help policymakers and financial service providers mitigate and manage losses incurred in the aftermath of disasters.

An introduction to disaster risk financing Part II – Building resilience of LMI segments through disaster risk microinsurance

This blog looks at success stories of how microinsurance has addressed climate and disaster risks. It also highlights how bundling helps microinsurance utilize technology and develop the technical capacity to deliver better products

An introduction to disaster risk financing – Part I – Understanding disaster risk financing at the macro level

This blog explores existing disaster risk insurance and the financing of climate disaster risk frameworks in place for low and medium-income segments. It highlights the need for such insurance and is targeted at practitioners, non-specialists like teachers and students, and the interested audience.

We are looking up to business correspondents in the pandemic; but what are they looking at?

The business correspondent (BC) network in India has become indispensable for last-mile financial service delivery across urban and rural centers. In light of the current pandemic, our note highlights the challenges BC agents face while providing services in far-flung unbanked areas.

Helping MSMEs get back on their feet – Insights from MSMEs in the Philippines that have overcome disasters

The COVID pandemic is a “grey swan” event—a known unknown. MSMEs are among the hardest hit by its economic fallout. In this piece, we analyze how MSMEs cope with analogous grey swan events like disasters and draw parallels to suggest ideas on immediate relief and policy perspectives to build long-term resilience.

Digital transformation of MFIs in Bangladesh opportunities, challenges and way forward

With the entry of FinTech firms in Bangladesh and the government’s aim to build an inclusive digital financial ecosystem, it is now imperative for the microfinance sector in Bangladesh to move towards digital transformation. UNCDF SHIFT commissioned MSC to conduct a study on the status of digitization in the microfinance sector in Bangladesh. This report examines the status of digitization in the microfinance sector in Bangladesh, technology options, and the next steps towards digital transformation.