Stakeholders working to advance the financial inclusion of women and youth in Africa, will discuss the findings of a just-concluded study on “Promoting Women and Youth Financial Inclusion for Entrepreneurship and Job creation: Comparative study of selected Sub-Saharan African countries”, conducted by the African Center for Economic Transformation (ACET) at a policy-learning event in Accra on August 27.
The forum will provide a platform for ACET to present the results of its evidence-based study in order to drive exchange of experiences between national and sectoral stakeholders working to advance the cause of women and youth financial inclusion on the continent.
The two-year multi-country study was funded by Canada’s International Development Research Centre and sought to explore the extent to which existing financial sector programmes and initiatives are enhancing the inclusion of women and youth in the financial system while boosting entrepreneurship and jobs creation.
The forum will bring together stakeholders from the three study countries: Guinea, Sierra Leone and Zambia, as well as from Ghana and other African countries to discuss findings and share policy ideas based on the key findings and recommendations of the study, anchored on ACET’s synthesis report.
These will include experts and senior officials from key government ministries, departments and agencies from both study and non-study countries, a broad range of women and youth associations, financial institutions, civil society organisations, academia and the media, who are playing critical roles in advancing financial inclusion in their respective countries.
The results of this study are expected to aid policymakers, regulators and service providers address the issue of financial inclusion by highlighting gaps, opportunities and the potential loss of output and employment if women’s and/or youth’s financial exclusion is not addressed comprehensively.
“Other objectives of the forum are to provide inputs for policy uptake by identifying and proposing focused, strategic and feasible interventions to bring women and youth into the financial system in order to spur entrepreneurship and job creation; and lay the groundwork for peer to peer learning and knowledge sharing on women and youth’s financial inclusion in African Countries” says Dr Ed Brown, Senior Director, Policy Engagements at ACET.
