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The Gender Gap in Financial Inclusion: How Fintech is Empowering Women in Africa

Article written by Oluwasekemi Akinbo

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Oluwasekemi Akinbo
Oluwasekemi Akinbo

Tech doesn’t always mean software development, backend development or road maps with robotics.

Sometimes, tech is a financial organisation incorporating AI and smart technology systems to drive efficiency and inclusion in the financial sector.

In the past decade, Africa has witnessed a remarkable transformation in its financial landscape, primarily driven by the proliferation of financial technology companies.

This digital revolution has played a pivotal role in addressing the longstanding gender gap in financial inclusion, offering women unprecedented access to financial services, and a seat in the technology world.

Understanding the Existing Gender Gap in Financial Inclusion

Financial inclusion primarily refers to the access to, and use of formal financial services. However, in many African countries, women remain marginalised in this sector.

According to the World Bank’s 2021 Global Findex Database, only 48% women in Sub-Saharan Africa owned financial accounts, compared to 55% of men, indicating a gender gap of 7%.

One of the top factors contributing to this disparity is the prevalence of socio-cultural norms in rural parts of the continent.

According to the 2023 Access to Financial Services in Nigeria (A2F) survey, approximately 28.8 million Nigerians in the northern regions are excluded from the financial system, with women and rural residents being the most affected.

The survey also highlights that the gender gap in financial inclusion widened from 8% in 2020 to 9% in 2023.

This single survey gives us a glimpse into the existing traditional practices that may limit a woman’s right to opening an account, opening a trust fund, owning land, etc. Some restrictions even extend to movement, limiting a woman’s freedom to visit the bank to carry out transactions.

In countries like Cameroon, Nigeria, and Ethiopia, customary laws in certain regions restrict women’s access to land and other financial assets.

For instance, among the Beti people of Southern Cameroon, women cannot inherit land and are only granted food plots by their husbands.

These restrictions on assets could limit a woman’s opportunity to grow her business or invest in her dreams. Assets that she can sell or use to yield money are unavailable to her.

She is left to survive on the meagre amount her husband gives her to cater to the family needs. How, then, does she save enough to do her masters, start a business, or any other thing she has in mind?

Asides societal norms, there is also the issue of the technical requirements that come with traditional banking.

Rural residents in Africa usually cite the absence of necessary identification documents as a barrier to opening accounts. Women with limited education also face difficulties in accessing formal financial systems.

How Fintechs Bridge the Financial Gap in Africa

Fintechs have emerged as a transformative force, offering innovative solutions to bridge the financial inclusion gap in Africa.

Mobile money services, digital lending platforms, and online banking have become accessible alternatives to traditional banking, particularly for underserved populations. Here are some ways fintechs bridge the gender gap in africa:

Easy Access to Credit Services

The woman with no house, no land, or any other financial asset; the woman tossed aside by traditions, restrained from any form of inheritance simply because she is a woman, can now easily access loans and other credit services from fintechs. It doesn’t matter if she is uneducated or unemployed.

It doesn’t matter if she has no land to serve as a collateral; fintechs make it easy for all classes of people in Africa to get loans, invest, own a bank account, and enjoy other financial services.

The technicalities of traditional banking have been erased, as Fintechs leverage alternative data to assess creditworthiness.

Shecluded, a fintech company in Nigeria, focuses on providing financial services to women entrepreneurs, offering loans, savings plans, and financial literacy programs, thus enabling women to access capital for business expansion and personal development.

Kenya’s Tala is another example of a fintech company in Africa that has democratized credit access, empowering women to invest in businesses, education, and healthcare.

Your Bank in Your Pocket

Mobile money services have been at the forefront of fintech innovations in Africa, revolutionizing the way financial transactions are conducted.

These services allow users to store, send, and receive money using their mobile phones, eliminating the need to travel to the bank to make deposits or withdrawals.

As a result, women who are sick, pregnant, uneducated, restricted from moving around, etc., can still access all financial services because they have their banks in their pockets, thanks to fintechs.

The Global Findex Database 2021: Financial Inclusion, Digital Payments, and Resilience in the Age of COVID-19 indicates that the number of women owning financial accounts in Ghana increased from 54% in 2017 to over 63% in 2021. This increase was primarily driven by the introduction of mobile money accounts. 

Gender Gap on Financial Inclusion
Increased financial inclusion in sub-saharan driven by mobile money accounts / Source: Brookings.edu: Digital finance boosting women’s financial inclusion in sub-Saharan Africa: Emerging evidence

Other countries in Sub-Saharan Africa have also seen a rapid growth in the number of women and adults who own a bank account, following the introduction of mobile banking.

Gender Gap on Financial Inclusion
Account ownership growth in Sub-Saharan Africa / Source: World Bank Group

Driving Savings and Investment Among Women

Driving Savings and Investment Among Women

Fintechs like PiggyVest and ChipperCash encourage users to save by offering flexible savings plans and investment opportunities.

Women benefit from the user-friendly interface and financial management tools of these savings and investment platforms. Fintechs in this category contribute to driving financial literacy across Africa.

The accessibility and convenience encourage many women to manage and grow their finances.

The Effects of Financial Inclusion on Women’s Economic Empowerment

The integration of fintech into Africa’s financial ecosystem has yielded significant benefits for women, some of which include:

  1. Increased Financial Autonomy: Women now have greater control over their finances, enabling them to make independent decisions, and improving their financial literacy.
  1. Entrepreneurship Opportunities: Access to credit and savings platforms has empowered women to start and expand businesses. Female entrepreneurs are now more prevalent in Africa. From tailors to store owners and hairdressers, women are empowered to set up their brands, having the assurance of easy loans, deposits and withdrawals. The rise of more entrepreneurs also contributes to economic development and job creation on the continent.
  1. Improved Household Welfare: With better financial tools, women can invest in health, education, and nutrition, enhancing the overall well-being of their families.

Conclusion

Fintech has proven to be a powerful catalyst in narrowing the gender gap in financial inclusion across Africa, offering women access to essential financial services that were previously out of reach. By this, women in Africa are gaining financial autonomy, building businesses, and improving their household welfare.

Collaborative efforts between governments, fintech companies, and civil society are crucial to sustaining and improving this inclusive financial ecosystem that empower women.

As fintechs continue to reshape Africa’s financial landscape, ensuring that no woman is left behind will not only promote gender equality but also unlock the continent’s full economic potential.

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Samsung Launches Vision AI TV: A New Era in Home Entertainment, Celebrating 19 Consecutive Years as the Global No. 1 TV Brand

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Samsung Launches Vision AI TV
L-r: Ikechukwu Ijeh, Head of Retail, Samsund Consumer Electronics; Jingak Chung, CE Product Manager, Samsung Electronics West Africa; Oge Maduagwu, Head of Marketing Communications Samsung Electronics West Africa; Tae Sun Lee, CEO Samsung Electronics West Africa; Harris Kwak, Business Manager Samsung Electronics West Africa; Ajay David, Head Consumer electronics ,Samsung West Africa, and Adekunle Adewale, Management Strategy, Samsung Consumer Electronics, Samsung West Africa, at the launch of Samsung Vision AI TV in Lagos

Samsung Electronics has announced the launch of its groundbreaking Samsung Vision AI TV, marking a bold new chapter in the company’s history of innovation and leadership in the television industry.

For 19 consecutive years, Samsung has held the position of the world’s No. 1 TV brand, a testament to its unwavering commitment to quality, design, and user experience. This remarkable journey of excellence has been defined by a series of world first innovations that have consistently set new standards in the industry.

From the debut of the Bordeaux LCD TV in 2006, admired for the world’s first sensuous design, to other breakthroughs like the first edge type LED TV, the first Smart TV with applications, the brilliance of 100% Color Volume QLED technology, and the refined Curved UHD TV, Samsung has never stopped setting new standards for what a TV can achieve.

Now in 2025, the company has taken another bold step forward with Samsung Vision AI which positions Samsung TVs as more than entertainment devices. They enhance content interaction, smart home functionality and synergy across devices, while maintaining strong privacy with the Samsung Knox security.

“Our mission has always been to create technology that feels personal, intuitive, and inspiring,” said Tae Sun Lee, CEO of Samsung Electronics West Africa. “With Vision AI, we’re not just offering a TV, we’re introducing a smarter, more connected way to live, building on almost two decades of global leadership.”

Samsung Vision AI is packed with features designed to make the TV experience smarter and more personal:

•            Click to Search – Find information and personalized content recommendations about what you’re watching instantly, with just one click.

•            Future-Proof Design – Enjoy 7 years of free OS updates so that your TV keeps evolving, unlocking new AI-powered experiences over time.

•            Smart Home Control Tower – Effortlessly connect and control your Galaxy devices, Bespoke appliances, and other IoT products through SmartThings.

•            Knox Security – Advanced protection to keep your personal information safe while you stay connected.

•            Art & Entertainment – Seamlessly integrates with the Samsung Art TV lineup and offers immersive gaming, making it a hub for both creativity and play.

According to Oge Maduagwu, Head of Marketing & Communications, Samsung Electronics West Africa, “These new TVs are intelligent lifestyle hubs as they leverage Vision AI to deliver personalized, contextual, and seamless experiences that redefine television. Combining TV, AI Art, Live translations and sleek designs to set our TVs miles ahead of others”.

Continuing she said:

“Samsung’s 2025 TV lineup delivers our most advanced viewing experience yet, with innovations across OLED, Neo QLED, QLED, and lifestyle models. This year, we’ve introduced glare-free OLED and expanded anti-glare technology to more Neo QLED models, boosted brightness by up to 30%, and added high refresh rates up to 240Hz for ultra-smooth motion. Our new Vision AI enhances picture, sound, and even integrates smart home features like pet and family care monitoring.

“We’ve launched premium additions such as Neo QLED Mini-LED with  wireless One Connect, plus Nigeria’s first 100-inch Neo QLED. From breathtaking picture quality to intelligent home integration, 2025 Samsung TVs are designed to deliver unmatched clarity, style, and connectivity.”

She reiterated Samsung’s commitment to shaping the viewing experience of tomorrow, with innovations designed to bring joy, connection, and inspiration to households worldwide.

“For years, customers have put their trust in Samsung TVs, trusting them to get quality and value for their money, thus, making them the global No.1 TV brand for 19 years consecutively and the brand continues to honor that trust by delivering products that exceed expectations.

“The new Neo QLED 8K, OLED, Neo QLED 4K, QLED & Crystal UHD TVs are now available at all authorized Samsung stores nationwide”, she Maduagwu added.

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Ransomware in the Crosshairs: Sophos and Halcyon Announce New Intelligence-Sharing and Mutual Anti-Tamper Protection Initiative

…Joint Collaboration Enables Real-Time Intelligence Sharing and Mutual Anti-Tamper Protections to Accelerate Ransomware Detection and Response, reports SANDRA ANI

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Sophos and Halcyon

Sophos, a global leader of innovative security solutions for defeating cyberattacks, has announced a strategic threat intelligence sharing partnership with Halcyon, the leading anti-ransomware solution provider.

This collaboration brings together two of the most experienced teams in ransomware defense to accelerate detection, enhance protection, and improve response capabilities for more than 300,000 organizations worldwide.

The collaboration between Sophos and Halcyon will exchange threat intelligence in real time, including indicators of compromise (IOCs), adversary behaviors, and attack patterns, to enhance ransomware prevention and accelerate response time.

Following Halcyon’s recent announcement of a community-focused Ransomware Research Center, this data-sharing initiative will inform defenses across both Sophos’ and Halcyon’s solutions.

It will benefit customers using Sophos Endpoint powered by Intercept X, as well as Sophos Managed Detection and Response (MDR), Sophos XDR, Halcyon’s Anti-Ransomware Platform, and other joint capabilities.

As part of the collaboration, Halcyon and Sophos will also implement mutual anti-tamper protections that allow each platform to monitor and safeguard the other’s agents in customer environments.

This helps ensure that organizations using both solutions benefit from added resilience, reducing the risk of ransomware interfering with security defenses and preserving the integrity of their overall protection strategy.

The threat intelligence collaboration is part of Sophos’ broader strategy to expand the reach and speed of its threat response through strategic partnerships.

Sophos X-Ops, the company’s cross-functional threat intelligence unit, will work closely with Halcyon’s research and engineering teams to share and operationalize ransomware-related insights across a wide array of attack surfaces.

“Ransomware tools and tactics are evolving constantly, and the best defense is timely, relevant intelligence that enables defenders to act quickly and with confidence,” said Simon Reed, chief research and scientific officer, Sophos. “By sharing insights with Halcyon, we’re improving signal fidelity and accelerating detection across our systems, which strengthens protection for all the organizations we serve.” 

“Halcyon is honored to partner with Sophos. Over the last four years, based on our telemetry, Sophos has time and time again proven to be one of the most effective endpoint security platforms we have encountered, reliably performing and disrupting attackers at a level that simply outperforms the majority of the players in the next-generation antivirus and endpoint detection and response (EDR) space. Their dedication to innovate and roll out industry-leading and unique features continues to put their customers at an everyday advantage over the most sophisticated attacks affecting enterprises today,” said Jon Miller, CEO and co-founder of Halcyon. 

Key benefits of the collaboration between Sophos and Halcyon include:

  • Real-time ransomware intelligence: Sophos and Halcyon will share timely threat intelligence, including indicators of compromise (IOCs), attacker behaviors, and tools used in active ransomware campaigns. This intelligence supports earlier detection, broader visibility, and more informed responses.
  • Strengthened defenses across products and services: Shared intelligence will enhance threat detection models, enrich contextual telemetry, and accelerate protection updates within each company’s solutions, including Sophos Central and Halcyon’s Anti-Ransomware Platform.
  • Mutual anti-tamper protections: Each solution actively monitors the other’s agents to prevent tampering or disablement during ransomware attacks, helping ensure that security defenses remain intact and effective throughout an incident.

This collaboration highlights Sophos’ and Halcyon’s continued commitment to cybersecurity innovation, industry cooperation, and the mission to defeat cybercriminals. Together, Sophos and Halcyon are delivering the intelligence needed to stay one step ahead of attackers.

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Rubrik and Sophos to Deliver Microsoft 365 Cyber Resilience with New Partnership 

…New offering will provide streamlined security and data protection capabilities for Sophos MDR and XDR mid-market customers, SANDRA ANI reports

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Rubrik and Sophos partnership

Rubrik, the cybersecurity company, and Sophos, a global leader of innovative security solutions for defeating cyberattacks, have announced a strategic partnership to provide Sophos M365 Backup and Recovery Powered by Rubrik.

This marks the first Managed Detection and Response (MDR)-optimized Microsoft 365 backup and recovery solution fully integrated into Sophos Central, Sophos’ security operations platform.

Designed to support IT and cybersecurity teams, the new offering will provide a unified global platform to enhance cyber resilience against ransomware, account compromise, insider threats, and data loss in SharePoint, Exchange, OneDrive, and Teams.

“We are reshaping what it means to stay operational in a world shaped by constant digital disruption,” said Joe Levy, CEO, Sophos. “This is the future of cyber resilience: an intelligent, adaptive partnership that ensures organizations remain secure, responsive, and uninterrupted. By combining Sophos’ prevention-first approach with Rubrik’s unwavering recovery capabilities, we empower businesses to withstand attacks and maintain continuity, even under pressure.”

Sophos will offer a powerful new add-on solution for its more than 75,000 MDR and XDR customers, enabling fast, secure recovery of critical Microsoft 365 data in the event of accidental deletion or malicious compromise.

This solution integrates Rubrik’s industry-leading SaaS-based protection directly into the trusted Sophos Central platform, giving organizations the flexibility to enhance their existing security operations with robust data recovery capabilities.

The Sophos Central platform integrates over 350 different telemetry sources across endpoint, cloud, network, identity, email and business applications. The platform leverages deep learning, custom LLMs, and frontier models to detect and respond to threats across the entire attack surface, enhancing defense effectiveness.

“The reality of today’s threat landscape demands a holistic approach to cyber resilience,” said Bipul Sinha, CEO, Chairman, and Co-founder of Rubrik. “With AI-enabled attacks and sophisticated breaches on the rise, organizations need more than just prevention; they need the ability to recover rapidly and reliably. Our partnership with Sophos delivers this critical capability directly within a platform security teams already use and trust, raising the bar for Microsoft 365 resilience.”

The Evolving Threat Landscape

According to The State of Ransomware report by Sophos, nearly half of organizations impacted by ransomware chose to pay the ransom to recover their data. Despite this, only 54% of affected companies relied on backups for data restoration, highlighting a continued gap in effective cyber resilience practices.

Recent research highlights the urgent need for robust Microsoft 365 data protection: 60% of Microsoft 365 tenants have experienced account takeovers, a frequent launchpad for lateral movement within an organization, and 81% have encountered email compromise.

When global admin credentials are compromised, attackers can manipulate retention settings and permanently delete critical business data.

Existing tools were not designed for comprehensive, large-scale recovery, which requires speed, granularity, and reliability for rapid restoration.

Sophos MDR and XDR customers will benefit from:

  • Secure, immutable backups: Rubrik will isolate Microsoft 365 backups with air-gapped storage, WORM locks, and customer-held encryption keys. Multifactor authentication and data lock prevent tampering, even with compromised credentials.
  • Fast, flexible recovery: Customers will be able to restore Microsoft 365 emails, OneDrives, SharePoint sites, Teams channels, and more to original or alternate users, including inactive accounts.
  • Automated protection: Rubrik will automatically discover Microsoft 365 users, sites, and mailboxes, applies Entra ID-based policies, and supports delegated admin – all integrated with Sophos Central to reduce manual effort.
  • Unified experience: Microsoft 365 protection and security operations will be managed via Sophos Central with no extra tools.

Rubrik and Sophos’ shared commitment to helping organizations operate with confidence in the face of risk, will provide Sophos customers and partners with a powerful solution to recover with speed and precision when threats inevitably break through.

This offering will be available through Sophos’ channel partner network in the coming months.

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