The West Africa Monetary Agency (WAMA) has received a $320,535 grant from the Africa Development Bank (AfDB). 

The funds will be channelled to the mainstream gender in ECOWAS’ core digital financial services (DFS) regulatory frameworks. 

In a Tuesday statement, the bank said the disbursement would be via the Africa Digital Financial Inclusion (ADFI) Facility. 

According to the bank, the funds will target aiding a gender gap analysis of WAMA strategies, consisting of those for “financial inclusion; gender disaggregation data analytics; digital payment services and infrastructure; and digital identity.” 

With its three-year life span, the project is expected to impact 350 million people in the ECOWAS region. 

Speaking on the project, the ADFI coordinator, Sheila Okiro, stated, “With a secretariat comprising all the 15 ECOWAS central banks, WAMA plays a pivotal role in the consolidation and implementation of strategic financial inclusion objectives.” 

Okiro added, “ADFI and the WAMA project team will work closely with other ecosystem players in the region to ensure harmonisation of efforts for maximum impact.”  

Upon completing the project, the region is expected to have upped women’s involvement in financial market operations by 35 percent, which will address Africa’s poor gender-inclusion gap of 11 percent compared to that of the global average of nine percent as surveyed in the 2017 Findex Report.  

The ADFI, aiming to enhance digital financial inclusion in Africa, said it wanted to achieve its target of ensuring that 332 million Africans, of which 60 percent of them are women, have access to the formal financial system.