Phone-based financial heuristics training for female retailers in Ethiopia

A review of evidence on the impacts of business training indicates the need to develop alternatives to formal classroom training.

Abstract

A recent review of evidence on the impacts of business training indicates the need to develop alternatives to formal classroom training, simpler rules-of-thumb-type trainings for less sophisticated firms, and business trainings that can be scaled up affordably. In partnership with ideas42, the World Bank’s Africa Gender Innovation Lab (GIL) piloted a heuristics (rules-of-thumb) based business training in Ethiopia that delivers easy-to-remember and implement financial and business practices. The training was designed for small-scale female retailers and is delivered by phone using pre-recorded messages and interactive voice response technology. A key motivation was to make the program accessible to women who are busy tending their families and shops, and who may have limited ability to attend classroom-based trainings.

This is an output from the Africa Gender Innovation Lab programme.

Citation

Tefera,Girum Abebe; Asheber,Tsedey; Hailemicheal,Adiam Hagos; Weis,Toni Johannes. Phone-Based Financial Heuristics Training for Female Retailers in Ethiopia (English). Gender Innovation Lab Washington, D.C. World Bank Group, 2023

Phone-Based Financial Heuristics Training for Female Retailers in Ethiopia

Updates to this page

Published 1 September 2023