Akhand Jyoti Tiwari is a Partner at MSC. Akhand has more than 18 years of experience consulting with policymakers, practitioners, multilateral and bilateral organizations, donors, philanthropies, academics, and think tanks. He has led the development of MSC’s work on research, evaluation, women’s financial inclusion, and digital capability.

Akhand specializes in inclusive digital development, specifically in BFSI—digital financial services, gender, the future of work, consumer protection, and livelihoods. He has worked in several countries, including Bangladesh, China, Cambodia, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Lao PDR, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Qatar, Senegal, the Solomon Islands, Tajikistan, the Philippines, Uganda, and Zambia. Akhand’s consulting work includes institutional development, strategy development, systems development for change management and process improvement, innovative business models, behavioral research (specializing in the LMI segment), product and service design, and program design and evaluation.

Akhand has led multiple initiatives to address challenges faced by low- and middle-income women and men, including access to and use of formal access to finance and digital interfaces, limited income-generating opportunities, and gender disparity. Akhand has helped set up DFS deployments in Lao PDR, Papua New Guinea, India, Bangladesh, and Kenya and supported central banks in setting up digital financial services guidelines. Akhand has authored numerous knowledge pieces on various aspects of digital inclusion and consumer protection and has guided researchers and start-ups in unpacking low- and moderate-income consumer behaviors.