By MAIMBOLWA MULIKELELA and NATASHA KANA –
THE Bank of Zambia (BoZ) has said tailored financial services for the unbanked and underserved will help reduce the gender gap and transform financial services in the country.
Central Bank deputy governor in charge of administration Tukiya Mabula Kankasa said tailored financial services for the unbanked and underserved was the essence of financial inclusion.
Dr Kankasa said doing so would lead to narrowing the financial inclusion gender gap and the transformation of financing services to better serve the citizens.
Dr Kankasa said that the financial inclusion gap, which is the difference in the level of access between women and men, persisted.
She said this during the Financial Sector Deepening Zambia (FSDZ) conference for Women Financial Inclusion in Lusaka yesterday.
In 2015, the financial inclusion gender gap was 3.8 per cent compared to 6.9 per cent in 2009 and four per cent in 2015, respectively.
“Research on women’s access to financial services in Zambia have attributed the gender gap to factors such as cultural norms, low financial literacy, lack of collateral, legal barriers or discrimination against women and geographical constraints that limit access to financial services,” Dr Kankasa said.
Dr Kankasa said the Central Bank had continued to put much emphasis on formal financial inclusion for women because doing so was the good the right thing to do.
She commended the FSD Zambia and its researchers for providing cardinal data on financial inclusion.
FSD Zambia was established two years ago to help women have an opportunity in finances.
According to the Mckinsey Global Institute 2015, it was estimated that advancing women equality could add US$12 trillion to global growth in 2015.
“It is in this regard that BoZ is collaborating with Financial Sector Deepening Zambia. This has culminated into several initiatives, including in the area of Digital Financial Services, credit market monitoring programme and a research on women’s access to financial services in Zambia,” she said.
Dr Kankasa said financial inclusion was important for women because of the benefits of improving access to productive assets, promoting financial security of households and promoting equitable participation in economic activities.
