Welcome to our interview series featuring the CEMAC advisory panel. Each week, we’ll share insights from panelists on women's financial inclusion and consumer protection — and the role of public policy in creating better conditions within their regions.

This week, we give the floor to Mohamadou BADIAGA from Cameroon, the Republic of Congo and the Netherlands and Josiane Sylvie MBAKOP NOUKEU from Cameroon:

Mohamadou BADIAGA, for over three years, has been coordinating women's economic empowerment programs through financial education. These training programs aim to strengthen the financial capacities of women for better financial inclusion.

Josiane Sylvie MBAKOP NOUKEU coordinates projects for the empowerment of women and young people in Cameroon through the financing of income-generating activities (IGA). It also works to mobilize financial resources, thus promoting their financial inclusion.

Question 1: What do you think are the most important barriers to financial inclusion for women in your region?  

Mohamadou BADIAGA (MB): Lack of financial education is the biggest barrier to financial inclusion of women in the CEMAC region. Indeed, the financial literacy rate in the region is relatively too low, with Cameroon having the highest rate among adults (38%) as compared to Chad (26%), which has the lowest rate.

In addition, the gap between men and women stands at 5 percentage points, which constitutes an additional obstacle to the financial inclusion of women. It is necessary to take into account the specific needs of women in financial education in the development of national and regional programs and in the design of financial products.

Josiane Sylvie MBAKOP NOUKEU (JSMN): The main barriers to the financial inclusion of women in Cameroon are:

• Difficult access to land ownership which is nevertheless one of the main factors of production and one of the reliable and most requested guarantees for financial transactions.

• The confinement of women's activities in the informal sector which generate low incomes barely ensuring daily life.

• The vulnerability of women due to their minority in decision-making bodies with a political discourse that advocates Equality and Parity but without concrete actions to achieve them in reality.

Question 2: Why is consumer protection important, especially for women? 

MB: Protecting customers of financial services is very important to build user confidence in providers of financial products and thereby promote financial inclusion.

Moreover, with the emergence of new service providers, products and distribution channels aimed at excluded populations, including women, it is necessary to define effective legal and regulatory frameworks, so as to prevent the emergence of new risks and the mutation of existing risks. These legal frameworks must take into account the risks specific to women in their interactions with financial products and services and respond rigorously to them.

JSMN: Consumer protection is very important especially for women for the following main reasons:

• It makes it possible to fill the lack of information on the transaction costs of financial services, which causes misunderstandings and discouragement for women who are enrolled in the financial circuit and reluctance for others who retract.

• It helps to set up redress mechanisms in the event of fraud for a fair and equitable treatment for all actors.

• It is one of the levers on which we must press for real financial inclusion.

Question 3. How can you effectively advocate for public policies and regulations that consider the needs of women? 

MB: For the needs of women to be taken into account in public policies and regulations, it is important to produce documentation and data differentiated by gender in the process of drawing up public policies, showing the specificity of women's needs in relation to other users of financial services and the issues they face.

In addition, there is a need to advocate more for the inclusion of women in economic decision-making bodies as well as in consumer protection associations, so as to make their voices heard during the process of developing these policies and regulations.

JSMN: To effectively advocate for public and regulatory policies that take into account the needs of women, it is necessary to:

• Place particular emphasis on gender responsive budgeting. Demand that all our public and private administrations systematically move towards gender budgets.

• Introduce quotas for the presence of women in the decision-making sphere. It will no longer be the number of women in our organizations or administrations but the number of women in decision-making positions.

• Proofread our texts, regulations and laws and refine them, taking care to avoid all the provisions which constitute obstacles to women's access or to their development.

The next few months

As the Panel continues its work over the next few months, we hope to support the participants in translating their insights and experiences into work that can be taken up by public sector decision-makers. 

If you have ideas from how to improve women’s financial inclusion in the CEMAC region, please don’t hesitate to contact us. 

Authors

Alexis Ditkowsky