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 hear from Annick SUMO and Marie Elise PIDJOU KAMGA DOMBISSI from Cameroon:

Annick Raissa SUMO DOGUEN has been working in the microfinance sector since 2009. She supports the establishment of offerings that improve women's access to credit, banking and insurance services.

Marie Elise PIDJOU KAMGA DOMBISSI, through a solidarity mutual that she helped to set up, works on the training and financing of projects led by women. She also works to finance microenterprises run by women.

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

Annick Raissa SUMO DOGUEN (ARSD): Gender inequality is one of the major obstacles to the financial inclusion of women in Cameroon. Men are considered both legally and culturally as "the head of the family," and have strong decision-making power over the actions of woman. Men still have a strong tendency to think that the place of women is at "home".

Also, there are several landlocked regions that exclude young girls from basic education, which later leads to a low standard of living that does not even allow them to ensure their own well-being. They are disadvantaged in terms of access to information and technology.

Marie Elise PIDJOU KAMGA DOMBISSI (MEPKD): Financial inclusion — the set of mechanisms put in place to fight against the difficulties that consumers encounter in accessing or using banking and financial practices — is crucial for the personal development of women, their financial empowerment, accelerating economic growth and poverty reduction. It facilitates access to affordable and responsible financial services, helps users anticipate funding for long-term goals or deal with the unexpected.

In my opinion the most important barriers to the financial inclusion of women in the CEMAC sub-region and more particularly in Cameroon are as follows:

• Access and effective use of financial services which are not increased for women due to financial illiteracy, lack of self-confidence and even distance for women in rural areas;

• The preference of women for informal finances such as tontines and loans to friends or family;

• Lack of regulatory reform strategies facilitating access to innovative financial services and measures to strengthen women's financial education and consumer protection.

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

ARSD: The consumer protection regulation released last year in 2020 was expected because it puts forward several principles that protect consumers from abuse until the management of complaints and repairs if necessary. This regulation helps to strengthen the confidence of women who do not always know their rights relating to the use of services and products. The obligation of information and transparency brings this educational side upstream which makes it possible to raise awareness among women.

MEPKD: The protection of consumers and in particular that of women is very important because:

• At Action Finance d'Afrique, through our funding for women, we have realized even more to what extent women are responsible for the family and therefore require special protection;

• It allows the consumer to manage and avoid risks and to overcome financial shocks due to the fact that the latter is less technically equipped than the professional since they are not always able to assess the advantages, disadvantages and risks of financial service products;

• It allows women to have better access to financing, thus facilitating the development of their activity, saving and meeting the needs of the family. As a result, it becomes more efficient in its pioneering role.

• It is a means of improving the daily life of women because it strengthens the sector representing women, who are very often vulnerable and unstable.

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

ARSD: The crucial step is to be able to present an inventory to the authorities while highlighting the impacts on the quality of life of women which could be improved if adequate measures were adopted.

The idea is to present by comparative analysis recent reforms and initiatives in certain countries in Africa such as Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, the objective of which is to strengthen the participation of women in economic activity, offer them opportunities decent work and therefore contribute to their empowerment. Several areas identified to be explored include equality in the workplace, the participation of women and their leadership role in trade unions and employers, and specific measures aimed at encouraging women entrepreneurs.

MEPKD:

In order to effectively advocate for policies and regulations that take into account the needs of women, we could:

• Disseminate more widely open financial education programs that will allow better involvement and inclusion of women in DFS;

• Establish centralized strategies exclusively on the financial exclusion of women to coordinate and stimulate their actions that could facilitate and allow the elimination of barriers;

• Provide an accessible system that promotes stability as well as fairness.

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