Policy Opportunities and Constraints to Access Youth Financial Services

This paper addresses the following barriers, namely, 1. restrictions in the legal and regulatory environment (e.g., minimum age and identification requirements), 2. inappropriate and inaccessible financial products offered by FSPs 3. poor financial capabilities of youth by looking at the related challenges and opportunities at the macro level that affect youth access to and utilization of financial services, while at the same time providing insights from the UNCDF-YouthStart programme. It will then provide recommendations on how government can help to address the challenges and take advantage of the opportunities in order to bring benefits to youth.