The Women's Digital Financial Inclusion (WDFI) Advocacy Hub has emerged as a vital initiative, advocating for women's financial and digital inclusion in Ethiopia and beyond. Last week, the Ethiopia Coalition gathered in Addis Ababa to commemorate its first anniversary through a variety of engagements.

Ethiopia has been experiencing a remarkable digital transformation, with innovative technologies shaping various aspects of society. The financial and digital ecosystem in the country is changing rapidly, opening new opportunities for thousands of Ethiopians.

However, challenges such as limited access to digital financial services, limited digital skills, and social norms continue to prevail and prevent many women from becoming digitally and financially included. The recently published GSMA data shows that women are 27% less likely than men to own a mobile phone. 

To accelerate advocacy efforts towards women’s digital financial inclusion, it is crucial to involve young people, who are the driving force behind social change and innovation.

The Women's Digital Financial Inclusion (WDFI) Advocacy Hub has positioned itself as a key initiative, providing a multi-stakeholder platform dedicated to advocating for women’s financial and digital inclusion in Ethiopia, and beyond. 

The WDFI Advocacy Hub’s mission over the past 12 months has been to amplify different voices to ensure that diverse perspectives are represented so that new solutions are forward-thinking, relevant, and inclusive. 

Year in review

Last week, the WDFI Advocacy Hub celebrated its one-year anniversary through a series of engagements in Addis Ababa. This allowed for the opportunity to reconnect with local partners and reflect together on the achievements of the past year.
Four important achievements include: 

• Establishing the first cohort of the Ethiopia Coalition with 24 diverse organizations; 

• Supporting the development of local capacity through the Fletcher School Leadership Program for Financial Inclusion (FLPFI); 

• Amplifying local voices to advocate for this agenda, by offering financial and technical support for our Ethiopian members to speak at global forums, e.g., Commission on the Status of Women 2023, the United Nations General Assembly 2022, Making Finance Work for Women 2023, etc;

• Positioning the WDFI Advocacy Hub as a mechanism for gender mainstreaming in the implementation of newly approved National Financial Inclusion Strategy (NFIS).  

Empowering local media

The week began with a Media Workshop that UNCDF hosted with selected journalists from Addis Ababa with the objective of empowering local news outlets with better knowledge and ability to report on WDFI and its economic and social impact​. Building a network of journalists in Ethiopia that have a clear understanding of WDFI has the power to increase the quantity and quality of coverage around this issue.  

The workshop covered the current state of DFI in Ethiopia​, explored the data on the gender gaps in financial and digital inclusion, and included interactive exercises on investigative journalism. The session closed with a fireside chat with Hinjat Shamil, Senior Advisor, Economic Reforms, Ministry of Finance, Ethiopia, and Munir Duri, CEO, Kifiya; who discussed the challenges to partnering with different stakeholders, fostering inclusive participation in policy and promoting products that reach women.  

Strengthening ties to local partners

In addition, the WDFI Advocacy Hub hosted a cocktail reception to engage and network with members, friends, and supporters of the Ethiopia Coalition. During this well-attended event the team reflected on the various lessons learned including: 

• Leveraging the strategic advantages of different stakeholders and their insights to leapfrog gaps in evidence and resources that currently hold many local solutions back

• Invest in collecting gender-disaggregated data to better understand potential opportunities and risks, set targets, measure progress, and call for accountability

• Ground the conversation about empowerment and inclusion on commitments to prioritize women’s access to the skills, which remain a key barrier to inclusion

On Thursday, June 15 the WDFI Hub was also present at the Innovation Africa Digital Summit 2023. Sewit Tadesse, Policy Accelerator’s Gender Analyst, spoke on the Social Inclusion and Empowerment Panel, where she highlighted the potential of the WDFI Advocacy Hub to promote inclusive policies that elevate the role of gender intentionality by mainstreaming it across all action programs to ensure that all products, services, channels, and initiatives are designed with women in mind. 

Lastly, to close the week, the WDFI Advocacy Hub gathered members, friends, and young advocates at Fendika Cultural Center, a renowned cultural hub known for its vibrant and creative atmosphere. By choosing this venue, the objective was to create an inspiring and diverse environment that encourages open dialogue. The event featured a panel discussion with Amadou Daffe, CEO and Co-Founder of Gebeya; Samiya Abdulkadir Godu, Founder & President of Ethiopian Youth Entrepreneurs Association and Ariest Abiy, Founder and Leader of Empowering Next Generation Ethiopia (ENG). The panelists focused on the potential of technology to empower women economically and shared examples of different successful projects, some of which were enabled through the WDFI Advocacy Hub grant facility. 

A central element of this event was a marketplace that convened Ethiopian women entrepreneurs and artists, who had the opportunity to showcase their small businesses and bring to life the importance of economic empowerment. This is an example of the WDFI Advocacy Hub’s commitment to give a platform to new voices that can drive the conversation and influence positive change. 

What’s next

In the coming months, the WDFI Advocacy Hub will focus on:  

• Funding projects through the grant facility. This is the call for applications for civil society organizations or NGOs based in Ethiopia. 

• Regular Coalition meetings and trainings, as well as more in-person networking events.  

• Collaborations with the media and youth advocates to increase the reach of the advocacy messages in this issue. 

Join us

This is a call to action to those in Ethiopia and abroad who want to be agents of change in the digital journey of their own country. Join us, join the conversation, join the movement.   
#ItsHerEconomyToo