Summer School - Financial Inclusion and Sustainable Growth, 6-13 July 2019, South Africa

Over the past years, many low-income countries have undergone extensive financial reforms. Despite these reforms, many households and enterprises, especially in Africa, are still unable to participate in the financial sector. While it is well known that financial institutions and markets can help induce economic growth, it is much less clear how financial development can become inclusive and kick start a process of sustainable economic growth with a positive effect on the poor.

This summer school will discuss the major developments regarding research on financial inclusion, including microfinance. It will shed much light on how financial inclusion can induce sustainable growth in
low-income economies, with explicit attention to African countries.

This one-week summer school will contain interactive lectures by the organisers from the University of Groningen (Netherlands), Université Laval(Canada), and Stellenbosch University (South Africa), as well as some guest speakers. Ample attention will be given to group discussions. This year's edition will be hosted by Stellenbosch University in Cape Town, South Africa.

The course is organised around the following three main topics:

• Impact of financial inclusion interventions: methods and applications
• Financial inclusion: financial innovation and cross border banking
• Financial products for financial inclusion

Application

To apply, out the online application form. Please note that you will be asked to submit a CV and motivation letter. The deadline for application is 1 April 2019.

Target audience

This summer school is designed for Research master students, MPhil students and MBA students.

It is expected that the participants have a sufficient command of the English language to actively participate in the discussions and to present their own work in English.

Programme

The summer school consists of the following parts:

• Impact of Financial Inclusion Interventions: Methods and Applications 
  The objective of this part of the course is to provide students with better knowledge about the theory and practice of impact analyses in developing countries. Special attention will be given to the impact of microfinance projects.
• Financial inclusion: financial innovation and cross border banking 
  The objective of this part of the course is to introduce the participants with two key contributors to financial inclusion: financial innovation and cross border banking.
• Financial Products for Financial Inclusion 
  This part of the course provides students with knowledge on the demand side of financial inclusion by discussing innovations in designing inclusive financial products from the customer’s perspective. The emphasis on demand side issues-customer centricity in financial inclusion- provides a framework for assessing and designing inclusive financial products in developing countries.
  

Workload

The workload is estimated at 40 hours of lectures, discussions and other contact hours.
Upon successful completion of the programme, the Summer School offers a Certificate of Attendance that mentions the workload of 40 hours (28 hours corresponds to 1 ECTS). Students can apply for recognition of these credits to the relevant authorities in their home institutions, therefore the final decision on awarding credits is at the discretion of their home institutions. We will be happy to provide any necessary information that might be requested in addition to the certificate of attendance.

Fees

The fee (R15 500) includes:

• Participation in the programme
• Lunches
• Coffee/tea breaks
• Guided tour, lunch and wine tasting on Sunday
• Cooking class
• Group dinner
• Walking tour and farewell dinner

For students from the organising universities (University of Groningen, Université Laval and University of Stellenbosch) the fee is R11 300.

For more information click "LINK TO ORIGINAL" below.