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Project

Advancing women’s financial inclusion in francophone Africa: Cameroon, the DRC and Senegal
 

Cameroon
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Senegal
Project ID
108373
Total Funding
CAD 512,800.00
IDRC Officer
Flaubert Mbiekop
Project Status
Completed
End Date
Duration
24 months

Programs and partnerships

Employment and Growth

Lead institution(s)

Project leader:
Nomsa Daniels
South Africa

Summary

This project will help promote measures to enhance African women’s access to formal financial institutions; 70% of African women do not have access to financial services such as savings and checking accounts, loans, credit, and other institutional services.Read more

This project will help promote measures to enhance African women’s access to formal financial institutions; 70% of African women do not have access to financial services such as savings and checking accounts, loans, credit, and other institutional services. In Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Senegal, less than 10% of women have an account at a formal financial institution. There is little information on the challenges and obstacles African women face to access finance, how these differ from men’s experiences, and how policy and regulation can enhance access.

This project will help to bring more women into the formal financial system by exploring policy options for francophone African countries, especially Cameroon, Senegal, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. It will generate evidence for financial institutions, regulators, and policymakers to promote women’s access to financial services. It will examine the current regulatory, legal, and policy environments to identify the changes that are required to foster women’s financial inclusion, and help financial institutions identify tailored approaches for women as a distinct market segment. The project will also promote women’s leadership in the financial sector in francophone Africa.

Research outputs

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Report
Language:

English

Summary

Most finance service providers are actively adopting technology to improve services, but not necessarily their outreach. A key factor identified as a constraint to women’s financial inclusion in all 3 countries (Cameroon, the DRC and Senegal) is that women continue to have fewer legal rights in terms of access and control of assets/ creation of bank accounts. As well, the prevalence of child marriage is a very limiting factor. Barriers to financial inclusion are rooted in women’s status in society, gender inequalities and social norms. National policies on gender equality are a positive step but efforts to promote financial inclusion need to address social norms and related legislation.

Author(s)
New Faces New Voices
Report
Language:

English

Summary

Comparing DRC’s financial service providers with the best practice model developed by Women’s World Banking, shows that the DRC has a long way to go. Early marriage and pregnancy are common and constitute a barrier to women’s economic empowerment. The Financial Inclusion RoadMap can play an important part in advancing progress, if implemented fully. The RoadMap however makes little mention of women’s financial inclusion. The banking sector is heavily concentrated in the capital city, Kinshasa. There is widespread distrust of the banks, due to the restructuring conducted in the early part of the century. The most trusted financial institutions are money transfer operators.

Author(s)
New Faces New Voices
Report
Language:

English

Summary

This report is part of a three country study covering Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Senegal. It explores the state of women’s financial inclusion in Francophone countries. The paper presents the environment in which women’s financial inclusion takes place in Senegal; provides information about women’s access to financial services; and assesses the readiness of the financial sector to better serve women. Digital financial services (DFS) are a key driver of the expansion in the use of financial services: mobile money issued by the mobile money operators, as well as digital services provided by banks, MFIs and money transfer operators.

Author(s)
New Faces New Voices
Report
Language:

English

Summary

This in-depth paper presents the environment in which women’s financial inclusion takes place in Cameroon; provides information about access to and quality of financial services; and assesses the readiness of the financial sector to better serve women. In Cameroon, principal financial services are dominated by remittances and informal savings. The position of women is weak. Though there is a National Gender Equality Policy, this doesn’t extend to economic empowerment. Customary law limits access to and control of assets. However, research demonstrates that women’s financial inclusion promotes greater equality and societal well-being; women channel a large share to children’s nutrition, clothing, health and education.

Author(s)
New Faces New Voices
Rapports
Language:

French

Summary
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