The Agent Network Strengthening Program in Liberia and Sierra Leone

• Nov 3, 2018
• 1 min

MSC worked in Liberia and Sierra Leone to assess and diagnose the opportunities and challenges in growing a robust agent acceptance infrastructure for digital financial services (DFS). Our technical teams worked closely with individual providers in these two hard-to-reach markets. MSC’s interventions enabled DFS providers in Liberia to increase agent outlets and set up a more efficient liquidity management system. In five years, they channeled an average transaction volume of USD 180,000 per month through each super-agent.

MSC worked with Strategic Impact Advisors (SIA) to assess and diagnose the opportunities and challenges in growing a robust agent acceptance infrastructure for digital financial services (DFS) in Liberia and Sierra Leone. This infrastructure would build the capacity and liquidity to support digital payment use for G2P and other bulk payment streams, and in the process create opportunities for agents. MSC’s technical teams worked closely with individual providers in these two hard-to-reach markets. We provided technical assistance, set up agent management systems, and supported operational activity.

As a direct result of MSC’s program activities, DFS providers in Liberia were able to increase agent outlets and set up a more efficient liquidity management system. In five years, they channeled an average transaction volume of USD 180,000 per month through each super-agent from a base of zero super-agent activity. In Sierra Leone, our team assisted providers to exponentially grow their agent networks by over 50% across target geographies within the country in five months and improve active agent rates by over 130%.