Helix Institute of Digital Finance

About Us

The Helix Institute is the training arm of MicroSave Consulting (MSC), a renowned firm in financial services consulting, in emerging markets. The Institute is a global leader in the provision of practical, market-focused training courses and insights on financial services.

Our mission is to support financial service practitioners to equip industry practitioners with strategies and tools to achieve sustainable impact and success in their business/programme objectives.

Our training courses are particularly designed to help organizations build effective strategies, enhance operations and extend financial services to their clients, profitably.

All our training courses are available in English and French.

Our Story
Our Faculty
Our Founders
Our Contacts

Why The Helix Institute of Digital Finance?

After eight years of work in digital financial services on three continents, in 2011, MicroSave concluded that:

1. There was finally a critical mass of essential information on how to construct and fine tune the operations of these systems.

2. There was a pressing need for a centre of excellence combining research and training to guide the development and roll out of successful digital finance services.

And thus, after extensive consultation, The Helix Institute of Digital Finance was founded in September 2013.in partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), and the UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF).

The mass markets of the developing world provide huge opportunities for entrepreneurial finance and telecom companies to increase their customer bases by providing essential financial services to those that need them most. Financial services can now ride on telecom networks which greatly extend their geographical reach, while also reducing transaction costs for the clients served.

However, the development of these digital finance systems is challenging. Countries like Kenya have pioneered solutions like M-PESA, and others like Tanzania and Bangladesh showcase notable models, but hundreds of other providers around the world are struggling to scale, and garner active usage of the systems.

Part of the problem is that the business model for digital finance is fundamentally different than the core business for banks and telecoms. Therefore, success requires a paradigm shift, deep pockets, and the commitment to pioneer new untapped markets. Given these foundational elements, providers must further understand not only the best practices in the industry, but the philosophy that drives them, so they can be successfully tailored to their own markets.

The Helix has been designed to compile best practices from leading providers around the world, and disseminate them to practitioners interested in building these models in their home countries. The goal of The Helix is to accelerate progress in the field, extending its reach, diversifying its product offerings, and deepening its impact for all those around the world that still seek access to finance.

Why 'Helix'? Story behind our name and logo...

The Helix name is inspired by the image of the ' DNA double helix'. It was chosen for the succinct symbolism it offers for fusing key building blocks together to spur life and innovation.

Digital Finance is the manifestation of this imagery as it weaves together concepts from FMCG distribution, with telecommunications, banking and microfinance to drive financial services out of the mass market. The Helix Institute provides practical brides between these founding fields and those working together in them, striving to define the future of finance.

The Helix's logo mark is an abstract representation of the 'DNA double helix' derived from the art of origami, which teaches how to create elegance from simplicity, which is the essence of our task as we evolve paper-based systems to be represented with electrons. The design further incorporates a forward facing arrow, embodying the positive progress The Helix Institute of Digital Finance will continually buttress.

Anup Singh

Head of The Helix Institute
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Elizabeth Berthe

Associate Director at Réseau Helix
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Graham A.N Wright

Group Managing Director at MicroSave
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Edward Obiko

Manager - Digital Financial Services
Nancy Kiarie

Manager - Digital Financial Services
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Doreen Ahimbisibwe

Manager - Banking and Financial Services at MicroSave
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UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) - MM4P

Mobile Money for the Poor (MM4P) is a global programme funded by UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) and the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID). The programme provides support to branchless and mobile financial services in a select group of LDCs where UNCDF currently operates to demonstrate how the correct mix of financial, technical and policy support can build a robust branchless and mobile financial services ecosystem in LDCs.
International Finance Corporation (IFC)

IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest global development institution focused exclusively on the private sector in developing countries.

Established in 1956, IFC is owned by 184 member countries, a group that collectively determines their policies. Their work in more than a 100 developing countries allows companies and financial institutions in emerging markets to create jobs, generate tax revenues, improve corporate governance and environmental performance, and contribute to their local communities.

IFC’s vision is that people should have the opportunity to escape poverty and improve their lives.
FSD Africa (UK Aid)

Created in 2012, FSD Africa is a DFID-funded £35 million Financial Sector Development Programme or ‘FSD’ based in Nairobi. It aims to reduce poverty across sub-Saharan Africa by building financial markets that are efficient, robust and inclusive.

The 'UK Aid' brand identifies activities funded by The Department for International Development (DFID). DFID leads the UK’s work to end extreme poverty. We're ending the need for aid by creating jobs, unlocking the potential of girls and women and helping to save lives when humanitarian emergencies hit.