The African Center for Economic Transformation (ACET) with funding from the IDRC undertook a multi-country study to identify and evaluate the effectiveness of existing financial inclusion initiatives and their relative success or failure in achieving desired goals in three countries – Guinea, Sierra Leone and Zambia.
ACET will hold the third and final validation workshop in Conakry, Guinea, on 23 January.
Emerging research reveals that failure to close the gender and youth gap represents a massive loss of output and potential – especially for the youth. It undermines their lifetime productivity and earnings potential, making it difficult for them to escape poverty.
While Guinea, a country of roughly 12.4 million people with a bank account penetration rate of 15% as at 2017, has made modest gains in reducing financial exclusion levels on aggregate since 2011, there is still an 8% account ownership gap between men and women, with a disproportionate number of the unbanked being women, youth and rural dwellers.
Difficulties obtaining identity proof documents for financial account opening, the patriarchal nature of the society, a high entry fee, insufficient financial literacy and access to financial education are some of the constraints to financial inclusion.
Key findings will be presented at this final validation workshop, which will be attended by stakeholders including officials from key government ministries, agencies and departments, financial institutions, civil society organisations and academia, together with representatives of women’s and youth associations.
