The Women's Digital Financial Inclusion (WDFI) Ethiopia program, dedicated to unlocking financial potential and fostering economic empowerment nationwide, proudly announces its 2024 subgrantee recipients!

Opening the Doors to Opportunity

The Women's Digital Financial Inclusion (WDFI) Advocacy Hub is a catalyst for collective action to increase women’s digital financial inclusion. The Advocacy Hub aims to promote WDFI policy and practices change at local and global levels and support country stakeholders to build gender-inclusive economic and financial ecosystems through enhancing the digital financial inclusion enablers and overcome the social and cultural norms and barriers against women’s inclusion.

To ensure that women can access safe and trusted digital financial services, the WDFI Advocacy Hub administers a grant program aiding the advocacy goals of Local Coalition members, with civil society participants eligible for grants ranging from $5,000 to $30,000 USD. 

These seven exceptional organizations, selected for their steadfast dedication to promoting financial inclusion, will play a crucial role in catalyzing beneficial transformations within various Ethiopian communities. 

Enhanced access to Digital Financial Services for women in Ethiopia

Organization:  Finnish Refugee Council (FRC) and The Centre for Accelerated Women's Economic Empowerment (CAWEE) 

Objective: To ensure the widespread availability of peer-to-peer cost-effective FAL / FL courses to illiterate/low literate marginalized women as ways of enabling the use of digital services through advocacy and awareness raising. 

Project Summary: The initiative promotes a two-pronged approach to enable women to access safe and trusted digital financial services. Firstly, basic, and financial literacy education will be provided to vulnerable women. Secondly, tailored solutions for women engaged in income-generating activities will be developed by connecting digital financial service providers and women involved in small businesses. The initiative aims to ensure all women can access and benefit from digital financial services, promoting women's financial inclusion and economic empowerment. 

Promoting Women’s Digital Financial Inclusion through enhancing digital financial literacy

Organization: Organization for Women in Self-Employment (WISE) 

Objective: To enable 400 women members of Saving and Credit Cooperatives (SACCOs) in selected four sub-cities of Addis Ababa to benefit from digital financial services by enhancing their Digital Financial Capabilities and advocating for the services. 

Project Summary: The Organization for Women in Self-Employment (WISE) is a non-profit organization that helps underprivileged and low-income women improve their quality of life. The project's main goal is to provide digital financial services to women by enhancing their skills in digital financial services and advocating for these services. The project aims to target 400 women who are members of Saving and Credit Cooperatives (SACCOs) in four selected sub-cities of Addis Ababa. WISE works in close collaboration with banks, microfinance, and other like-minded organizations to expand its outreach on digital financial services and technology for women. 

Digital Financial Inclusion for Women Hossana (DFIWH): 

Organization: Mercy Corps and 251 Communications (Kazana group) 

Objective: To enhance the adoption of digital financial services among rural women in Hossana, SNNP, by setting up and managing high-quality agents and providing training and support to drive customer adoption and use. 

Project Summary: This project aims to increase the usage of digital financial services among rural women in the Hossana region of SNNP. The plan involves focusing on women who currently rely on traditional financial services offered by the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia and migrating them to digital finance services by establishing and managing high-quality agents. Training and support will also be provided to drive customer adoption and usage. Mercy Corps and 251 Communications (Kazana Group) will utilize their expertise to expand digital financial services. The project's desired outcome is to enable rural women to access and utilize mobile money services better, resulting in more affordable, convenient, and safe access to savings, loans, and payment services. 

A study on mobile money service access and use by Ethiopian women

Organization: Digital Rogue Society Experiment Group and Addis Powerhouse  

Objective: Collect and analyze gender-disaggregated data on Mobile Money Service in Ethiopia, identify gaps and opportunities for gender-sensitive service, produce knowledge products, and conduct advocacy activities for Women's Development and Financial Inclusion. 

Project Summary: This project proposal aims to promote Women's Digital Financial Inclusion (WDFI) in Ethiopia by collecting gender-disaggregated data to analyze the access, use, and engagement of Mobile Money Service (MMS) by different groups of men and women and by using this data for evidence-based advocacy to raise awareness and influence key stakeholders, such as MMS providers, regulators, banks, and the public, on the need and benefit of ensuring WDFI. The project's desired outcome is to increase the number and proportion of women who access and use MMS and improve their economic empowerment and well-being. The project is jointly proposed by the Digital Rogue Society Experiment Group and Addis Powerhouse. 

Empowering visually impaired women through access to digital financial services 

Organization: Ethiopian National Association of the Blind 

Objective: This project aims to increase the involvement of Ethiopian blind and partially sighted women in digital financial services. Specific objectives include creating awareness, providing training, and assessing to advocate for inclusive policies and practices. 

Project Summary: The project promotes financial and digital inclusion of Ethiopian blind and partially sighted women through awareness, skill training, and advocacy. The target group is in four cities, and the advocacy targets financial institutions and payment providers. The goal is to improve accessibility to digital financial services for blind and partially sighted women in Ethiopia. 

Women’s Inclusion in Finance and Digital Services (WiFi-DS)

Organization: CARE Ethiopia 

Objective: Sai Edge Solutions is an international startup that offers tested and proven technology systems to organizations for digitally transforming their programs. Their flagship program, called Hey Sister! is an open-source audio-based curriculum focused on digital financial literacy. The program has been successful in increasing the confidence of women in using digital financial services in Africa, particularly in countries like Ghana, Rwanda, Tanzania, Kenya, and Malawi. 

Project Summary: This project empowers low-income women in Addis Ababa by enhancing their digital and financial skills and increasing their access to digital financial services. It aims to raise awareness among government and privately-owned telecommunication companies about the challenges faced by women in accessing technology. The project uses an interactive voice response system to deliver messages that build women's confidence in using digital technology, inform them about mobile money transactions, and equip them with the necessary knowledge to avoid digital security issues. Additionally, the project introduces them to digital loans. 

Catalysing Women’s Active Participation in Digital Financial Services

Organization: Emela Association and Kifiya

Objective: The project aims to increase women's awareness and use of digital financial services. Objectives include creating an enabling environment, increasing women's economic participation, and strengthening the engagement and capacity of women entrepreneurs in digital financial inclusion. 

Project Summary: Despite the increasing efforts to expand digital financial services, women's financial inclusion in Ethiopia has seen little progress over the past decade. Women face limited access to financial and technological services, as well as inequalities in economic participation. The project's goal is to promote gender equality and empower women economically by utilizing digital finance. The initiative is aimed at 120 women entrepreneurs and financial practitioners based in Addis Ababa. The desired outcome is to increase opportunities for women to access and use digital financial services for economic empowerment, as well as to enhance women's involvement in digital financial services product development. 

Collective Impact 

These are the inspiring organizations we're partnering with thought our subgrant facility this year.  Each subgrantee brings unique expertise and a deep understanding of their target communities, creating a powerful network of changemakers working towards a common goal. 

Join the Movement

We invite you to explore the work of our subgrantees and join us in celebrating their achievements. Together, we can create a future where women in Ethiopia have equal access to financial tools and resources, unlocking their full potential and driving inclusive economic growth. 

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