From access to resilience: how FAST savings groups advance women’s economic empowerment

Despite global progress in financial inclusion, millions of women remain excluded from systems that could help them progress out of poverty.

UN Women projects that 351 million women and girls will still live in extreme poverty by 2030, most of them in sub-Saharan Africa. Across Africa, women are using small loans – some of the smallest loan amounts in the world – to make big changes in their families’ lives.

These loans come from VisionFund’s Finance Accelerating Savings Group Transformation (FAST) product. By channelling capital into mature savings groups, the product enables more members to take larger and more flexible loans at the same time. Client payments are also recycled back into the group, creating an ongoing source of community capital.

Launched in 2019, FAST’s unique blend of credit, insurance coverage, digital innovation and client training enables rural women to grow their businesses and support their families, with the goal of breaking the cycle of intergenerational poverty. FAST has been used by 21,750 savings groups and has over 393,000 active clients in 10 countries, 77% of whom are women, indirectly reaching more than 1.5 million children.

In 2025, VisionFund expanded its impact measurement and management strategy to include women’s economic empowerment indicators, which align with CGAP’s framework. Client feedback shows that FAST advances women’s economic empowerment across three key dimensions: access to resources and opportunities, agency, and achievements and resilience.

Expanding access to resources and opportunities

The World Bank estimates that nearly half of all adults in rural sub-Saharan Africa do not have a bank account. By linking community savings groups directly to formal financial services, FAST is helping close that gap and unlock new opportunities for those traditionally excluded from these services, particularly women in rural communities.

In VisionFund’s 2025 FAST Client Impact Survey, 80% of women clients reported receiving a loan for the first time through the product. External evaluation studies conducted by a social impact measurement organisation between 2022-2024 found that 9 out of 10 members reported that their savings group could not find a better alternative to a FAST loan.

Strengthening women’s agency

Beyond financial access, being economically empowered means having the ability to make and act on financial decisions that shape one’s life.

In the client impact survey referenced above, more than 90% of women clients reported greater influence in household financial decisions and more confidence in speaking up in their communities. These gains were also reported among women who are neither household heads nor group leaders, suggesting that FAST is helping to improve the lives of the more vulnerable women among the savings groups.

Alongside capital, FAST provides training for each client. This goes beyond financial literacy to reinforce messages from World Vision’s foundational work in child protection, women’s economic empowerment and Empowered Worldview, a mindset-change programme that encourages problem-solving, innovation and community support. Grace, the long-serving leader of the Enyoito savings group, which was established in 2014 under World Vision Tanzania, attributes the improvement in women’s agency among savings group members to various factors. This includes being able to access larger loans, which allows women to contribute to their household expenses, solidarity among members who help each other navigate personal challenges, and the training programmes the group receives, which women are able to discuss with their husbands at home.

Building on achievements and resilience

As a dimension of women’s economic empowerment, achievements and resilience focuses on outcomes that enhance women’s long-term wellbeing.

FAST demonstrates stronger performance than peer microcredit benchmarks in clients reporting improvements in overall wellbeing and quality of life, including increases in their livelihood income and savings. Women often cite the benefits to their children, including better nutrition, education and health, as the most meaningful outcomes of their participation. These findings support VisionFund’s theory that engaging financially-excluded women as clients is an effective route to holistic family wellbeing.

Why this matters for the financial inclusion sector

FAST demonstrates that intentionally designed gender-responsive financial inclusion products can be a practical and scalable way to drive holistic empowerment for women who are traditionally excluded from formal finance. As such, it offers a number of practical lessons for financial service providers and funders seeking to advance women’s economic empowerment.

First, access to capital alone does not guarantee empowerment. Financial resources are a necessary but insufficient condition for women’s economic empowerment. Programmes that combine finance with knowledge and capacity building, tools that reduce risk, and community-based delivery mechanisms can drive deeper and more sustainable change.

Second, measuring empowerment drives accountability. VisionFund’s continued investment in measuring and managing impact allows its microfinance institutions to capture and act on evidence. By using impact data and insights to guide strategy and operations, VisionFund demonstrates how inclusive finance institutions can move from measuring impact to managing it.

FAST’s experience shows that when data drives learning, and learning drives better design, the cycle of empowering women continues – and the ripple effects reach their children, families and entire communities.