Staff Directory

Leena Datwani

Senior Financial Sector Specialist

Leena Datwani’s current work with CGAP focuses on (1) the role of financial services in building resilience of rural women in light of climate change, and (2) a country-level approach to impact women’s financial inclusion in India.  Previous work at CGAP includes work on financial services for gig workers, and development of an enabling digital finance ecosystem to better serve the poor.  She has also lead strategic engagements with key public sector, private sector, and civil society stakeholders. 

With over 20 years of experience in inclusive development, inclusive finance, and women’s economic empowerment, her work includes leading, designing and executing research and projects for impact.  She has worked on digital finance, digital public infrastructure, inclusive fintechs, rural livelihoods and women’s financial inclusion. 

Leena holds a Master’s in International Economics and International Affairs from Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies. She is based in New Delhi, India.

By Leena Datwani

Blog

Seven Insights From Samunnati on Income Diversification

In collaboration with CGAP and IDH under ABERA, Samunnati drives business innovation and gender and climate goals. Together, they've identified seven insights on income diversification for women in India, detailed in this blog.
Research

Social Media Monitoring to Assess Consumer Risks in Digital Credit Apps: Guidance for Supervisors from an India Pilot

To better understand the digital consumer credit and the risks they pose for customers, this reading deck contains supervisory guidance on the use of a branch of AI, Natural Language Processing (NLP), for social media monitoring. It is based on insights and lessons from an India pilot and provides examples of social media analyses carried out as part of that pilot.
Blog

Maturing India Stack Drives Digital Financial Inclusion of Gig Workers

India Stack, India’s robust DPI, supports a host of financial services products for harder-to-reach segments like gig workers – a good example for other countries that want to leverage digitization of work for financial inclusion of informal workers.
Blog

How Can Embedded Financial Services Better Serve Platform Workers?

Platforms’ extensive data on their workers could support customized product design, and their digital rails could seamlessly deliver financial services. What opportunities might financial services embedded within platforms enable?
Blog

Last-Mile Consumer Finance: Embracing Opportunity, Managing Risk

Last-mile distributors around the world are working to increase low-income households' access to solar systems, cookstoves, water purifiers and other important assets. Many offer financing to customers. How are they managing credit risk?