The Department for International Development (DFID) was set up in 1997. DFID’s key objective is to make global development a national priority while fostering a new ‘aid relationship’ with governments of developing countries. DFID’s top priorities in Nigeria include:

• Helping millions of people to get a bank account and use financial services to build their savings and small businesses
• Providing more children with a better education
• Helping Nigeria use its oil revenues to improve the lives of its citizens
• Providing more family planning and better health services to stop women dying in childbirth
• Immunising more children, helping eradicate polio and distributing antimalarial bed nets

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation are guided by the belief that every life has equal value. The Foundation focuses on improving people’s health and giving them the chance to lift themselves out of hunger and extreme poverty. The goal of the Global Development Program, Financial Services for the Poor is to provide millions of poor people in the developing world with reliable access to affordable financial services that can help them build better, healthier lives.

FinMark Trust is based in Johannesburg, South Africa and was set up in 2002. It is an independent trust, with core funding from the UK Department for International Development (DFID). FinMark Trust has a mission of, "Making Financial Markets Work for the Poor”, by promoting and supporting policy and institutional development, thereby increasing access to financial services by the un- and under-banked in Africa.

The Financial Sector Deepening Trust, Tanzania (FSDT) was established by five government donors: the UK Department for International Development (DFID); the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA); the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA); the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA); and the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The overall aim of the Trust is to provide greater access for more people to engage with the financial system throughout Tanzania. FSDT supports three pillars of financial sector development:

• Expanding the scale and viability of financial institutions and related transactions
• Financial sector infrastructure, especially the crucial task of capacity-building
• The policy, legal and regulatory framework

Financial Sector Deepening Trust, Kenya (FSD Kenya) programme was established in 2005 to support the development of financial markets in Kenya as a means to stimulate wealth creation and reduce poverty. Working in partnership with the financial services industry, the programme’s goal is to expand access to financial services among lower income households and smaller enterprises. FSD Kenya operates as an independent trust, and is currently funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID); the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA); the World Bank, Government of Kenya; the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; and Agence Francaise de Developpement.