Women and Finance in Africa

Gendered finance in Africa represents a multifaceted landscape where financial systems intersect with gender dynamics, presenting both challenges and opportunities for inclusive economic growth. This abstract explores the complexities surrounding gendered finance in Africa, emphasizing the pivotal role of inclusion and transformation in reshaping financial structures. The African continent grapples with entrenched gender disparities in access to financial services, with women often facing significant hurdles in obtaining credit, owning property, or participating in formal financial systems. These barriers are compounded by cultural norms, limited access to education, and discriminatory practices, hindering women’s economic empowerment and financial independence.

However, amidst these challenges lie prospects for transformative change. Efforts aimed at fostering inclusive financial ecosystems are gaining momentum. Initiatives promoting financial literacy, access to microfinance, and innovative fintech solutions tailored to women’s needs are emerging across the continent. Moreover, policy interventions and advocacy for gender-sensitive regulations are gradually reshaping the financial landscape. Understanding the intersectionality of gender, finance, and socioeconomic contexts is crucial in devising sustainable strategies for inclusive growth. Empowering women economically not only enhances their individual agency but also contributes significantly to broader societal development, fostering economic resilience and reducing poverty.

This abstract underscores the imperative of addressing gendered financial inequalities in Africa, emphasizing the need for holistic approaches that combine policy reforms, innovative financial products, and cultural shifts. By embracing inclusion and transformation in financial systems, Africa can unlock the immense potential embedded in its diverse population, fostering a more equitable and prosperous future for all.

The prominence of informal financial services in Kenya, Zimbabwe, and indeed most of Africa is undeniable. The use of informal financial services such as table banking and local savings groups has long been a feature in the financial lives of many Africans, and is particularly popular among women who have historically had to devise ways around cultural and patriarchal structures erected in many spheres, including finance. Informal financial services are also prominent in rural settings where financial inclusion has long been a challenge owing to geographical and infrastructural challenges and the supposed high cost of serving small savers. In the global scene, powerful proponents of financial inclusion frame it in terms of formal financial services. For this reason and others, financial exclusion is deemed a particular problem in Africa despite the rampant use of informal financial services; higher-up proponents of financial inclusion would rather have it that financially excluded women abandon informal services which they are much familiar with and ascend to bank accounts and other formal financial services which they often mistrust or may be inconvenient for their purposes. While acknowledging some of the arguments put forward in the literature about the quality and adequacy of informal financial services, their enduring dominance remains irrefutable. This chapter therefore takes a step back to assess the confluence of informal financial services in Africa and the global discourse on financial inclusion with particular reference to women. The chapter argues that informal financial services continue to play a salient role among women even in the face of rapid adoption of financial technology and a fast-developing financial industry in the continent. The chapter also argues for a broader understanding of financial inclusion with reference to women in Africa and the exploration of synergetic opportunities between informal and formal financial structures as a path to achieving true financial inclusion for women.

In Africa, women’s access to finance is extremely low, leaving them at the mercy of systems that are not structured to favour them. The ability to save and borrow easily is critical to the financial empowerment of the African woman. This study, therefore, examines the savings and borrowing patterns of Africans through the gender and income status lenses. Although the general savings and borrowing distribution patterns of both genders are similar, a stark contrast is observed with respect to savings clubs. The findings indicate a strong inclination towards saving with a savings club for women compared to saving with a financial institution. Moreover, more women than men save (rather than borrow) to start, operate or expand a farm or a business even though the tails of the female borrowing behaviour showcases distinct characteristics in this regard. Additionally, it was established that men’s saving and credit disposition significantly impacts women’s financial behaviour. From an income status perspective, low-income countries are more visible in clusters that do not account for upper-middle-income countries. Therefore, to achieve the target for financial inclusion in Africa, it is recommended that policies which strengthen savings clubs should be enacted and thoroughly implemented whilst maintaining a well-established synergy between gender-targeted policies. Special finance-related quotas should be provided for low-income countries at regional and continental levels. All the highlighted recommendations have been aligned with selected United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Gendered food security inequality elucidated the vulnerable position of women in South Africa who bear the brunt of the unresolved post-apartheid challenges of inequality, poverty and unemployment 28 years into the democratic era. The inability of women to access their constitutional right to sufficient food and water, in turn, limited opportunities for education, employment and entrepreneurship. The global political socioeconomic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on women was worsened by the mismanagement of social response public funds. The study found that there is an adequate state policy framework coupled with enough public sector resources both budgetary and human. It acknowledged the negative and disproportionate impact of the pandemic on women noting this was due to the underlying reason for the remaining gender inequality being political in nature. This took the form of unsuitable and incapable senior cadre deployment, a rampant culture of corruption, lack of coordination, poor communication and a government structure not suited to optimal service delivery. State capture further paralysed commitments and initiatives. This study was conducted through a gendered conceptual lens with a systematic literature review methodology and thematic analysis of purposive data selection. Lessons noted were used to recommend locally innovated women-led agroecology food chain sector businesses proactively assisted by government implementation intervention and horizontal multi-actor governance. The study asserted the South African government’s commitment to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA)-adopted Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5 – Gender Equality – would not be met by the agreed target date of 2030. A turnaround of substantial progress was still feasible if SDG 2 – Zero Hunger – was prioritised with women’s base physiological requirements met to be equitable participants in a financially inclusive and economically conducive space. The impediment was post-1994 politics, a stumbling block that needed to be mitigated.

Informal settlements are booming in many developing countries through the unprecedented rate at which urbanisation is taking place. Available evidence suggests that the problem lies in the lack of economic opportunities in the formal sector, exacerbating migration to the city, thereby increasing the growth of informal entrepreneurship. Women are found to be at the receiving end of that system since they are excluded and marginalised in the economy. Access to economic opportunities and fostering equitable and sustainable societies is crucial to achieving inclusivity and women empowerment. As such, through an extensive review of literature, this chapter attempts to interrogate and shed light on the role that financial inclusion can play towards supporting women informal entrepreneurship taking lessons from other similar experiences across the world. The work is accomplished on the basis of secondary sources including book reviews, journal articles, research reports, and other secondary materials. Opportunities and barriers to women financial inclusion in African women informal businesses are examined with the aim of providing a possible framework to overcome various impediments mentioned above. The researcher envisions that the findings will be of great benefit to women financial institutions, international agencies, regional bodies, and national and local spheres.

Institutions play an important role in the delivery of financial products and services and are a vital component of the financial inclusion ecosystem. In Zimbabwe, the definition of financial inclusion is limited to access and use of financial products and services from formal institutions in the financial service sector such as insurance agents, mobile network operators, banks, microfinance institutions, remittance agents and fintech companies. Their oversight, regulation and survival are determined by the policy environment around them. The definition of inclusion, however, does not account for the informal operations which are taking place in Zimbabwe where 52% of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) are informal and therefore look to other avenues for access to financial products and services. This chapter processes data from a nationwide survey of MSMEs as primary data and subsequently uses secondary sources to compile other informal institutions influencing the financial habits of MSMEs in Zimbabwe. The chapter outlines some of the barriers experienced by MSMEs when attempting to access products and services from formal sources. It further outlines the key players in financial service provision and their roles noting that other institutions (social and cultural) should additionally be considered in future efforts to understand the state of inclusion and promote financial equity in Zimbabwe.

In sub-Saharan Africa, only 37% of women hold a bank account, compared to 48% of men, a disparity that has been exacerbated due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The situation is considerably worse in North Africa, where around two thirds of the adult population is unbanked, and the gender gap in access to financial services is the highest in the world at 18%. This chapter explores the identified barriers both on the demand and supply side and details the available fintech solutions, the various technologies underpinning these solutions, as well as case studies of how these solutions can significantly bridge the financial inclusion gaps for women in Africa with a view to spark ideas, innovation, and initiatives that will empower African women and eliminate barriers to financial inclusion.

The case for financial inclusion in developing countries has taken center stage in development discourse in recent years, which may suggest significant improvement in financial inclusion in developing economies. Despite this, evidence still shows that financial inclusion is biased against women. The application of gender lens to the view of financial inclusion has usually looked at these differences between men and women via access to finance and credit facilities. However, the issues involved reflect both the supply side at the macro level and demand-side factors at the household level. It is thus pertinent to ask: to what extent is gendered budgeting reflective of financial inclusiveness in Nigeria? At what critical point does financial inclusion favor male over female? Do women within different spatial features have any edge in the financial inclusion game by any means? This chapter, therefore, examines financial inclusion from the multidimensional lens of opportunity, accessibility, and utilization for Nigerian women in general and rural women in particular. Findings reveal that there are demand and supply factors that lead to self-selection of women into degrees within the financial inclusion frame, with differentials across rural and urban sectors. Policy implications are likely to reflect the need to examine the phenomenon of financial inclusion beyond access to credit to a holistic view that includes creating a baseline opportunity to enhance women’s capacity to access formal financial systems.

Despite several national and international policies promoting gender inclusion in peacebuilding, there has been persistent under-investment in gender-inclusive peace in conflict and post-conflict settings with significant gaps in financing. The chapter examined the financing of women and their inclusion in the Ivorian peacebuilding process. It investigated women’s role during the Ivorian civil wars and their contribution to building peace. Through the qualitative method, with the use of a case study research design, secondary data were sourced and content was analysed. The study revealed that from victims of sexual abuse to forceful conscription as combatants, the role of women during the civil wars remains complex. More so, through formal and informal structures, women were essential to the nation’s efforts during the post-conflict reconstruction period.

The study, however, argues that with the disproportionate representation of women in peace processes, women lack opportunities to influence decision-making about financing priorities. Hence, the importance of involving women and financing them in the peacebuilding process cannot be overemphasized, given that women suffer more losses than men in conflict scenarios. Evidence gathered shows that women remain sidelined in peace processes and by extension were not adequately identified in most financial arrangements when compared to the men.

The study submits that though Côte d’Ivoire ranks as one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, its human development levels are low with some of the highest gender inequality rates in the world. This gender gap created by hierarchical structures of patriarchy inadvertently accounts for a low success rate of peacebuilding cases globally. The chapter argues that the non-inclusivity of women in the peacebuilding process affects decisions like inclusive financing which is significant to empowering women after a conflict. It is recommended, therefore, that the National Action Plans (NAPs) and other gender mainstreaming policies in peacebuilding should be reviewed and effectively implemented.

Digital finance is one of the fastest growing financial services in the world. The growth in digital finance can be attributed to an increase in the ownership of mobile phones which has triggered a tremendous increase in innovative digital tools, transactions and services worldwide. Digitization has contributed substantially to the GDP growth of many countries with the potential to further increase the GDP of all emerging markets by $3.7 trillion in 2025. This could increase new jobs, investments and overall productivity as e-commerce platforms are used to sell products and perform financial transactions across the world. Although digital finance is fast growing, many women in Africa do not have access to digital financial services, especially those living in poor and marginalized communities. They often do not have digital assets such as smartphones, internet services and also lack digital literacy to perform digital transactions. This chapter aims to discuss how women digital financial inclusion can be achieved in Africa, its prospects for women empowerment and likely challenges.

Various national financial inclusion strategies (NFIS) and measures have been put in place by the government of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) countries for promoting financial service access and affordability for all with most strategies emphasising the benefit of digital savings and payment in enhancing gender equality and women empowerment. Recent activities of digital finance operators through fintechs, blockchain, agent network managers, and technology service providers have been recognised in driving digital financial inclusion. Traditional microfinance and table banking operators focusing on the rural dwellers and the women’s society have embraced digital financing, and despite significant strides made, systemic barriers hamper the pace and speed of fostering synergies and harmonisation between digital finance and local financial institutions. As traditional microfinance institutions and operators of table banking in ECOWAS strive to compete with specialised digital finance services operators amidst a competitive market, women and poor households are left behind as they fail to conform to technological advancement. This chapter using selected ECOWAS countries’ experiences assesses the challenges, benefits, and risks faced by the traditional microfinance institutions and operators of table banking platforms in their digitalisation process towards enhancing gender equality in financial services. It considers ways of bridging the gender divide in assessing financial services through the partnership of microfinance and table banking operators in rural communities with digital financial services operators given the rise in recognition of the need to include women and the large unbanked society in rural communities. Furthermore, it addresses factors that can advance women’s access to digital financial services, build trust in its effectiveness, and promote equality of opportunities in rural areas.

Financial inclusion offers a myriad of benefits for economic development. Accordingly, it has been incorporated into national, regional and international development objectives. However, increasing gender disparities, especially in terms of access to and delivery of financial services, is counterproductive to the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, which emphasizes leaving no one behind by 2030. Several strategies and efforts have been put in place to close the financial gap between men and women in developing countries, but with little success. Given the vital role digital finance plays in advancing financial inclusion, this chapter examined the gender gap in access to financial services and the role of digital finance in addressing this gap in Nigeria. The findings confirmed the pervasiveness of gender gaps in access to digital financial services in Nigeria as more men than women have access to digital finance platforms. This may be attributed to low levels of digital literacy, inadequate financial infrastructure and low Internet penetration, among others. On the whole, the chapter concludes that financial inclusion seems like a mirage in Nigeria, but digital finance has great potential to encourage financial inclusion in the country since it has enhanced access to financial products and services by gender. Therefore, the chapter advocates the need to adequately equip the Nigerian financial sector to provide improved financial services to both women and men, without prejudice or discrimination and build physical infrastructure to foster financial integration in Nigeria.