Today, about 400 million adults in Africa, 60% of whom are women, remain financial excluded. This means that more than half of all African adults run businesses, make purchases, send money to family and friends, and pay taxes in cash without using a formal bank or mobile money account. Failing to provide financial services to millions of African adults means limiting their opportunities to escape poverty and increasing their vulnerability to economic shocks.

It is for this reason that the Digital Financial Inclusion Program for MSMEs has a particularly keen focus on the empowerment of women and youth in trade, and the customers they transact with at the bottom of the financial pyramid.

The Digitalization Toolkits for Greater Financial Inclusion Workshop, organised in partnership with Union Tunisienne de l’industrie, du commerce et de l’artisanat (UTICA), therefore seeks to:

• Provide an overview of the Digital Financial Inclusion Program and raise awareness on the benefits of the COMESA Digital Retail Payments Scheme.
• Enhance MSMEs’ knowledge on cross border instant and inclusive digital financial services, towards driving their participation in intra-COMESA trade.

Participants will acquire the requisite skills sets for integrating digital services in their enterprises that will further promote access to a variety of financial services with low barriers to entry and greater market access.

We look forward to seeing you there!