by Jolene Khor - Africa, Technology, Women -

MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “A G7 Partnership for Women’s Digital Financial Inclusion in Africa;” published by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

Published by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, July 2019, 24 pages, available at https://docs.gatesfoundation.org/Documents/WomensDigitalFinancialInclusioninAfrica_English.pdf

This report offers five ways in which G7 countries can contribute to making digital financial services more accessible to the 400 million individuals in Africa, mainly women, who are excluded from digital finance. These five “pillars” comprise the following:

  1. Enabling interoperability – providing technical and financial support to build digital payment infrastructure that allows transactions among users of different service providers;
  2. Expanding “digital identification” systems – supporting initiatives to allow underserved populations to increase their usage of electronic systems of verifying their identities so they can open financial accounts and otherwise make use of financial products and services;
  3. Encouraging progressive regulation – advocating for regulatory policies and environments that accommodate and encourage the growth of digital financial services that are adapted to local contexts;
  4. Supporting the “assessment of digital readiness” – helping stakeholders identify barriers to digital financial inclusion, such as lack of access to a mobile phone, and providing guidance on overcoming these challenges; and
  5. Encouraging “gender-specific research” – improving the understanding of the ways digital financial services impact women’s lives and how they can advance gender equality.

The authors posit that focusing on these pillars can allow the international community to enable a new generation of financially empowered women in Africa, allowing them not only to participate in the economy, but to drive its growth.

By Jolene Khor, Research Associate

Sources and Additional Resources

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation report: “A G7 Partnership for Women’s Digital Financial Inclusion in Africa”
https://docs.gatesfoundation.org/Documents/WomensDigitalFinancialInclusioninAfrica_English.pdf

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation homepage
https://gatesfoundation.org/

African Development Bank article
https://afdb.africa-newsroom.com/press/g7-summit-president-macron-and-g7-leaders-provide-banks-affirmative-finance-action-for-women-in-africa-afawa-initiative-with-251-million

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