In prior years, Business on the Frontlines has partnered with Accelerate Prosperity (AP) to investigate agriculture and ecotourism in Tajikistan and venture impact, ecotourism and green construction in Kyrgyzstan. This year, our team addressed the issue of financial inclusion in Kyrgyzstan to inform a potential fintech business AP could launch in Kyrgyzstan through its venture studio. In doing so, we kept four goals in mind:
By analyzing financial inclusion, we prioritized which challenge the AP venture studio should seek to solve.
We validated and prioritized the top challenges by defining the size of the issue and the market opportunity.
We analyzed the markets in which a solution would need to compete to be successful.
Lastly, we constructed initial visual prototypes for our proposed solutions and a plan for AP to implement further testing of the solutions.
Our desk research, expert interviews and field interviews during our semester’s partnership signaled that Kyrgyz entrepreneurs do not typically investigate their funding options when looking to expand or improve their businesses, and second, that entrepreneurs desire financial mentorship and education. We believe that AP can contribute to financial inclusion through its venture studio by launching a fintech application that would ultimately promote usage of the available financial products and services in the Kyrgyz financial marketplace.
We recommend that AP implement two fintech solutions in its venture studio that would improve financial inclusion in Kyrgyzstan by aiding the growth of small and medium-sized businesses, contributing to the country’s overall GDP and economic growth by fostering improved entrepreneur confidence and financial literacy. We share in AP’s aspiration that these initiatives will contribute to sustainable employment and stronger communities.