Ethiopia calls for digital financial services to boost women’s economic opportunities

Addis Ababa, September 24, 2020 (FBC) –Ethiopia’s State Minister of Finance Dr. Eyob Tekalign has called on Africa to promote digital financial services to boost women’s economic opportunities.

He made the call yesterday at a panel of G7 and African countries during the 75th United Nations (UN) General Assembly.

Dr. Eyob said “Although many African governments are doing much more to harness digital technologies to build more inclusive economies, much remains to be done to ensure women benefit from the digital advancements, especially those that live in rural and marginalized communities.”

He added “improving women’s access, use, and control over financial services enable them, especially the poorest women, to achieve the same status, power, and opportunities as men resulting in dramatic social changes that propel society forward.”

Furthermore, Dr. Eyob, noted how the COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the importance of digital services encouraging the use of digital payment services.

In particular, he explained how for emerging economies, the challenges from the pandemic have brought more opportunities to promote financial inclusion objectives through the use of technology.

He also explained that although Ethiopia has achieved rapid growth in the financial sector, many households are still excluded from access to the necessary financial services.

To address these challenges, he explained about the various economic reforms taken by the government to promote financial inclusion and serve the underbanked and underserved population.

He explained about the key economic reforms such as the telecommunications sector reform and the development of pertinent strategies such as the National Digital Transformation Strategy and the National Payment Strategy.

He also said that the government has been working to ensure the correct regulatory frameworks including the recently issued license payment directive, which is enabling the private sector to invest in innovative financial inclusion services and products.

He further added that much more remains to be done to address the various socio-cultural and economic issues that hinder the process of financial inclusion by investing to increasing women’s knowledge and awareness as well as investing in infrastructure, digital ID, access payments systems and financial services.