The African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved two grants for research that will increase African women’s access to a range of digital financial services, including loans and micro-insurance.
The grants, $1 million and $300,000, will be disbursed through the Africa Digital Financial Inclusion Facility, a blended finance vehicle supported by AfDB, to two financial technology firms, Pula Advisors Kenya Limited., and M-KOPA Kenya Limited.
Pula Advisors will use the $1 million for research of social, cultural and economic factors that impact women farmers’ access to micro insurance in Kenya, Nigeria and Zambia. Research will inform the design and implementation of gender-centric insurance products. The project will be undertaken over three years.
“This grant funding will be used to leverage technology to develop innovative and responsive loan and insurance products that can spur productivity and inclusion, especially for our women smallholder farmers and traders,” said Sheila Okiro, the bank’s Coordinator for ADFI.
The three-year project will have three phases: product development; piloting; and scaling; the outcomes are expected to benefit 360,000 farmers, 50per cent of them women, as well as boost farm yields by up to 30per cent. This will also raise incomes and enhance household and national food security.
M-KOPA will use the $300,000 grant funding for research involving 250 women and 250 men in Kenya’s Kisumu, Eldoret and Machakos counties. The company will assess the barriers to and opportunities for women’s access to digital financial services and financial literacy programmes via smartphone, and use the research insights to design a financial services app that is relevant to small-scale women traders.