Financial Inclusion and Fintech Expert (Consultant)

Responsibilities

• Build the Fintech Knowledge Layer: Take ownership of constructing the fintech knowledge baseline within the DigiThrive program.
• Develop Learning Tools: Design practical materials covering access to finance requirements, borrowing practices, loan limits, repayment terms, and sustainable financing strategies.
• Conduct Market Scans: Complete a comprehensive market scan of fintech solutions and financial service providers in Kenya relevant to agri-food micro-enterprises.
• Map & Profile Providers: Identify and map reputable financial institutions and fintech providers suitable for program participants.
• Define Selection Criteria: Outline clear selection criteria for fintech solutions based on the financial realities of young women entrepreneurs in the agriculture value chain.
• Provider Engagement: Engage directly with fintech providers to gather deep insights on product offerings, usability, and eligibility requirements.
• Create a Product Directory: Build a curated, highly user-friendly directory of relevant financial products and services.
• Draft Safeguarding Memorandums: Develop a safeguarding advisory memo highlighting risks, responsible usage, and warning signs around predatory lending.
• Ensure Gender Responsiveness: Guarantee that all completed assets are gender-responsive, practical, and simple to digest for entrepreneurs with lower financial or digital literacy.
• Consolidate Learning Content: Collaborate with the team to synthesize outputs into a standalone, accessible e-booklet that features fintech profiles and responsible borrowing guidance.

Requirements & Qualifications

• High-level domain expertise in Kenya's digital financial services and fintech ecosystem, with a proven track record of working within the MSME space.
• Demonstrated experience creating practical toolkits, e-books, or instructional learning resources designed for micro-enterprises or entrepreneurs.
• Strong research and analytical capabilities — able to independently profile, map and evaluate financial products and services.
• Exceptional ability to translate dense, complex financial concepts into clear, relatable, and actionable content for non-expert audiences.
• Experience developing training or learning content specifically tailored to MSMEs, with an understanding of the practical challenges facing micro-enterprise owners.
• Familiarity with gender-responsive programming or women's economic empowerment (WEE) initiatives.
• Experience or contextual understanding of agribusiness or agri-food value chains in Kenya is an added advantage.
• Prior exposure to donor-funded or development-focused programmes operating in the financial inclusion space is an added advantage.