Can Fintech really Address Gender Disparity in Financial Inclusion? Some Answers from Kenya

Odongo Kodongo and Diana Ngui ()
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Diana Ngui: University of the Witwatersrand

The African Finance Journal, 2024, vol. 26, issue 2, 1-26

Abstract: We investigate the linkage between engagement with the fintech ecosystem (Kodongo, 2024. Financial inclusion effects of engaging with the fintech ecosystem. International Review of Economics and Finance 96(B), 103671) and effective financial inclusion among women in Kenya. Since Kenya's fintech ecosystem is one of the oldest and more advanced globally, it is expected that fintech applications should play a major role in fostering financial inclusion in the country. Yet, using the FinAccess Kenya Household Survey 2021 dataset, we document a pervasive gender gap (favoring men) in the consumption of traditional financial services and products of regulated financial institutions and markets in the country. Importantly, we find that the fintech ecosystem has an important role to play in addressing the gender gap; however, the low financial literacy among women (only about 38% of Kenyan women are financially literature) vitiates fintech's ability to do so effectively. Policy interventions need to prioritize financial education in the population with women as an important target group.

Keywords: Fintech Ecosystem; Women; Financial Inclusion; Gender Disparity; Kenya (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: E51 G23 G51 J16 O32 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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