Ericsson leverages mobile money to drive financial inclusion of women

By Ibiyemi Mathew

Ericsson has reiterated its commitment to drive financial  inclusion amongst women by leveraging on mobile money adoption.

Business Development Manager, Mobile Financial Services at Ericsson, Rosemary Kimaku, and  Mobile Money Marketing Lead at Ericsson, Mohit Bhargava, said the Ericsson Wallet Platform along with the mobile financial services it powers, will continue focusing on leveraging and enhancing mobile money as a tool to drive full financial inclusion for women.

In an article written by Rosemary and Mohit, they stated that, “Mobile money helps to narrow the gender gap of financial access in some countries. For example, in Liberia the gender gap in mobile money account ownership is 8 percentage points, compared to bank or financial accounts where it is 19 percentage points. In Uganda, Ghana, Cameroon, and Liberia, more women than men have only a mobile money account.  For example, in Ghana 31 per cent women have only a mobile money account compared to 27 per cent of men.

“Service providers encourage the adoption of mobile money amongst women by offering services focused on women. Mobile money also digitizes traditional financial tools mainly used by women like savings clubs, burial societies, village savings and loans associations (VSLAs) making them more secure, transparent, and easy-to-use. In some countries, female merchants make up a considerable part of local markets. Mobile money enables these low-income merchants to go digital, accept mobile payments, and modernize their businesses at low-cost,” the article read.