Nearly half of the African population lacks access to digital financial solutions. To address this issue–meeting the needs of financially excluded and disadvantaged people– the African Development Bank (AfDB) and its partners have taken several steps.
India will contribute $2 million to the African Digital Financial Inclusion Facility (ADFI), a fund hosted and managed by the African Development Bank (AfDB). The Bank disclosed the news on August 2.
According to the AfDB, the money will help tackle bottlenecks to the growth and adoption of digital financial solutions, as well as accelerate financial inclusion in Africa.
#India pledges $2M to @ADFI_AfDB for digital financial solutions in Africa. India's #financialinclusion success offers valuable insights to scale up initiatives to meet the needs of the financially excluded. Learn more: https://t.co/v34gM3EpY1 #IntegrateAfrica pic.twitter.com/DAF80VDaQf
— African Development Bank Group (@AfDB_Group) August 2, 2023
"India's pioneering role in digital financial services, the extension of financial inclusion to remote rural areas, and the creation of infrastructure for digitizing financial services offer India an excellent opportunity to work within the ADFI partnership to share learning and expertise on public digital infrastructure to promote digital financial inclusion across the continent," said Manisha Sinha, Deputy Secretary to the Department of Economic Affairs and Principal Board Member of the ADFI for India.
Due to Covid-19, Africa’s need for greater digital financial inclusion expanded. As a result, less expensive dematerialized financial services were deployed to support those who have no or low access to formal banking services.
In 2019, the AfDB launched the ADFI fund with an initial endowment of $40 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Government of Luxembourg, and the French Development Agency: the African Digital Financial Inclusion Facility (ADFI).
By 20230 the fund hopes to devote $400 million to support the digital financial inclusion of 332 million people in Africa, 60% of whom are women.
India is recognized worldwide for having a thriving public digital payment system; a system that transformed governance, financial inclusion, and resilience for millions of people. The financial support of the Asian giant should thus advance AfDB’s goal regarding digital financial inclusion.
Samira Njoya
