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Informative Article | Information Technology | Sierra Leone | Volume 13 Issue 4, April 2024 | Rating: 5.4 / 10

Impact of Digital Financial Technology on Women in Sierra Leone. Case Study: Women in the Western Area of Sierra Leone

Sahr Alieu Musuyamasu | Mohamed Syed Fofanah ^[2]

Abstract: Digital financial technology (DFT) is the use of information technology and communication to complete a series of financial transactions such as: payment, online lending, enquiries, crowdfunding, remittances, insurance etc. Digital financial technology is a key enabler to reduce extreme poverty and being able to have access to a transaction account is a first step toward broader financial inclusion, since a transaction account allows people to: store money, make payment, access to credit facilities, send and receive payments. Globally, women in low medium income countries (LMICs) are 33 percent less likely than men to have a mobile money account. In Sierra Leone, despite having 14 commercial banks, 17 community banks and above 50 active microfinance institutions (MFIs), five of them deposit taking, three Mobile Money Operators, and 59 Financial Services Associations (FSA), account ownership among the adults? population, especially women, in Sierra Leone remain low. This is because most financial institutions are concentrated in the capital, Freetown, and secondary urban areas, leaving most people in other parts of the country cut - off from the financial system. Reasons include the high operating cost for institutions going into the rural and under - served areas of the country. The adoption rate to financial technology in Sierra Leone has been gradually improving over the years. However, faced with challenges such as requirement to open an account. Account opening requirement is an impediment for a very large number of the population, as banks and mobile money operators requires one to have valid national ID, proof of address and passport pictures in some cases to have an account opened. These requirements in most cases cannot be fulfilled by women as a result of their economic status that does not allow them to obtain accounts registered in their names. They are therefore found using mobile money accounts registered in other names which could further down the chain serve as a bottleneck in the entire chain. This research follows a mixed method of quantitative and qualitative approach. The study depict that women are significantly more likely to rely on others when using financial technologies. Without concerted efforts to reduce women?s reliance on others, this is likely to limit the way they engage platforms and services. More needs to be done to provide training resources to women at the point of signing up to DFT platforms and ensure the information they receive is comprehensive and correct.

Keywords: Digital financial technology (DFT), Inclusive digital financial service (IDFS). Information technology, low medium income countries (LMICs), Global system for Mobile Communications (GSMA), microfinance institutions (MFIs), Mobile Money

Edition: Volume 13 Issue 4, April 2024,

Pages: 1457 - 1463