At dawn in Kisumu, Akello, a 32-year-old entrepreneur, unlocks her kiosk and carefully arranges bags of flour, soap, and sugar on her wooden shelves. For years, she’s used mobile money to pay suppliers, receive payments from customers, and even send remittances to her sister studying in Nairobi.

With just her phone, she has been connected to a financial system that once excluded women like her. No need to keep large sums of cash at home, no need for risky trips carrying money to town. Digital finance has brought her convenience and safety.

But when Akello tried to grow her business by seeking a loan to expand her stock, she hit a wall. The bank asked for collateral she didn’t have. Microloan apps felt confusing and often came with hidden fees. Even her savings options were limited. She was “included,” yes, but not empowered.

Akello’s story is not unique. Across Africa, millions of women have gained access to mobile money and financial accounts, but access does not automatically translate into agency.

Progress on Paper, But Reality is Stubborn

The last decade has brought undeniable progress.

According to the World Bank Global Findex, account ownership among women in Sub-Saharan Africa nearly doubled in a decade, from about 25% in 2011 to almost 50% in 2021. That’s a major leap forward.
Yet women globally are still 9% less likely than men to own an account.
In Nigeria, only 35% of women use financial services, compared to 55% of men, according to Women’s World Banking.
In Burkina Faso, surveys show that 76% of women distrust banks, highlighting the gap between access and usage (UN Women report).

On paper, the inclusion gap has narrowed. In practice, women like Akello remain locked out of loans, investments, and meaningful savings tools.

Why Access Isn’t Enough: The Barriers Women Still Face

1. Trust and Cultural Norms

In many communities, men still dominate financial decision-making. Even when women have accounts, they may lack control over how money is used. Deep-seated distrust of banks, rooted in experiences of hidden fees, bureaucracy, or poor customer service discourages women from engaging with formal institutions.

2. Digital Confidence

A mobile phone in hand doesn’t equal confidence in using financial apps. Many women fear making mistakes, pressing the wrong buttons, or falling victim to fraud. CGAP’s Women & Money research found that women across Kenya and Nigeria wanted guidance from trusted peers or agents before trying unfamiliar digital products.

3. Financial Products That Don’t Fit Women’s Lives

Most financial products are built for salaried workers with steady paychecks and collateral conditions that don’t reflect women’s informal and irregular income streams. A vegetable seller, a market trader, or a tailor doesn’t fit neatly into the mold of a “creditworthy customer.” Products that ignore these realities end up excluding the very people who need them most.

4. From Access to Agency

The crux of the challenge isn’t account ownership anymore, it’s agency. Do women control their money? Can they save confidently, borrow on fair terms, and invest in their futures? Without agency, access is just the first step.

Kenya’s Innovation Moment

Kenya has long been a pioneer in digital finance. M-Pesa put mobile money on the global map. Digital savings and credit services like M-Shwari introduced millions to formal products. Yet even here, women like Akello remain constrained by mistrust, design gaps, and systemic barriers.

PesaKit joined forces with Last Mile Money and IDEO.org through the Last Mile Money Accelerator. The partnership focused on one powerful idea: if financial products are to serve women, they must be co-designed with women.

Mobile money agents became trusted access points. Many of these agents are women themselves, and with training and support, they evolved into hubs not only for cash-in and cash-out, but also for savings, loans, and digital literacy.
Products were redesigned to fit real lives. Instead of requiring collateral, pilots explored microloans linked to daily transaction volumes. Savings products were simplified, with clear terms and flexible conditions.
Trust was built through community. By anchoring services in familiar, local settings through agents women already knew the solutions addressed fears and gave women confidence to participate more fully.

This human-centered design approach turned “users” into co-creators, and “access” into the beginnings of agency.

The Bigger Picture: Why Women’s Financial Inclusion Matters

Investing in women’s financial agency isn’t just about fairness, it’s about economics.

The McKinsey Global Institute estimates that closing gender gaps in work and financial participation could add $12 trillion to global GDP by 2025.
UN Women’s SADC report highlights that when women control money, households spend more on education, healthcare, and nutrition breaking cycles of poverty for the next generation.
A 2023 Brookings report emphasized that women-led businesses in Africa grow faster when they gain access to credit, yet remain consistently underfunded (Brookings).

In short, women’s financial inclusion is not charity. It is smart economics, community resilience, and business opportunity rolled into one.

So, What Will It Take?

Akello doesn’t just want to receive mobile payments. She wants to save for her children’s school fees, borrow to expand her kiosk, and invest in her own growth.

For that to happen, Africa needs:

Inclusive product design that fits women’s income patterns and realities.
Agents and peer networks that build trust and digital confidence.
Supportive policies that encourage innovation and gender-sensitive solutions.
Investment in women-focused fintechs that prioritize impact as much as profit.

A Call to Action

Women like Akello already have access. What they need is agency. The ability to make financial choices, grow their businesses, and build secure futures for their families.

So here’s the question for all of us investors, fintechs, policymakers, and community leaders:

What will it take to move African women from financial access… to true financial agency?

The answer to that question may define not only the next chapter of financial inclusion, but the future of Africa’s economic growth.