This document sets out a framework to help FSD Africa understand its contribution to creating employment opportunities. It is designed to both:

The framework blends and builds on a number of existing approaches to jobs measurement and tailors them to the FSD Africa context. This includes best practice guidance set out by the DCED and the methods used by other investors and development projects operating in Sub-Saharan Africa. The framework is also grounded in literature centred on evidence of the financial sector’s propensity to create jobs.

The framework is designed to be flexible to reflect the diversity of FSD Africa activities and channels through which the financial sector can influence the real economy’s employment effects. It is immediately relevant to FSD Africa – both investment and non-DevCap interventions – and may also be applicable to the work of the wider FSD Network. There may also be potential broader interest in the framework from FSD Africa’s donors and other financial sector programmes trying to develop realistic, right-sized, and cost-effective ways to measure portfolio-wide job effects.

Ultimately, for FSD Africa, there will likely be a learning curve as to what measurement approaches will work in practice, and to continue to adjust the methodology to best define what can and cannot be measured and with what accuracy. Therefore, the approach taken in this document is an experimental one, seeking to balance both rigour and practicality in seeking to estimate the impact on jobs from FSD Africa interventions. The framework should be thought of as a ‘starting point’ in FSD Africa’s journey to unpack how it affects various employment dimensions. Options for how the framework can be further upgraded over time have been noted throughout the document.