In Nigeria, where agriculture is the backbone of livelihoods, women are the invisible pillars holding up our food systems. Yet, during our work with smallholder dairy farmers, we discovered a glaring gap in access to financial services—particularly among women farmers. Many lacked basic bank accounts, and those who did were often ill-equipped to leverage financial tools like savings, credit, and insurance.
We are far off the ambitious target set by the National Financial Inclusion Strategy to bring 95 percent of the population into the formal financial system by 2024. The gap is especially wide for rural women, who face barriers that go beyond banking access. In these areas, poor infrastructure, lack of internet connectivity, and the absence of bank branches create a vicious cycle of financial exclusion. This exclusion prevents them from connecting to formal value chains, restricting their ability to access financing, scale businesses, and contribute to national development.
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But the solution isn’t just to open more bank accounts. True financial inclusion must be about empowerment. We tapped into the cooperative groups and Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs) in rural areas. These informal savings systems have quietly been transforming women’s lives for years, enabling them to pool resources, access credit, invest in their farms, and fund small-scale enterprises. By combining these grassroots efforts with microfinance and digital platforms, we can connect them to formal financial systems, allowing women to engage more fully in economic activities.
This isn’t just a social good—it’s an untapped economic opportunity waiting to be realised. Empowering women financially is not only a step toward achieving gender equality but also a catalyst for far-reaching economic growth. It’s about giving women the tools, knowledge, and confidence to take control of their finances—to save, invest, plan for their futures, and ultimately accumulate wealth.
“Empowering women is not just the right thing to do—it’s a smart economic strategy that strengthens communities and accelerates sustainable growth.”
The ripple effects of this empowerment are profound. Numerous studies have shown that when women are financially empowered, they don’t just lift themselves out of poverty; they become agents of change in their families and communities. Women who have financial independence invest in their children’s education, ensuring the next generation is better equipped for the challenges ahead. They also make better nutritional choices, improving the health and well-being of their families.
But it doesn’t stop there. When women succeed economically, they often reinvest their earnings back into their communities, driving local development and fostering an environment of shared prosperity. By enabling women to thrive financially, we unlock a multiplier effect that benefits society as a whole, turning individual success into collective progress.
Empowering women is not just the right thing to do—it’s a smart economic strategy that strengthens communities and accelerates sustainable growth.
The promise of financial inclusion is not just about ticking off policy targets or meeting international benchmarks. It’s about creating a genuine shift in the lives of millions, particularly women in rural areas, who have long been sidelined by traditional financial systems. When we provide these women with the tools they need to access credit, save securely, and invest in their futures, we are not simply addressing inequality—we are unleashing a powerful engine of economic growth.
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If we truly want to see transformation, we must shift the conversation from mere access to empowerment. It’s not enough for women to have a bank account if they lack the education, resources, or autonomy to use it effectively. Financial inclusion must be about giving them the skills and confidence to leverage these opportunities, allowing them to invest in their businesses, families, and communities. Without this deeper focus on empowerment, all the inclusion initiatives will remain hollow, mere tokens of progress without real impact. We cannot afford to stop at rhetoric; we must ensure that inclusion translates into lasting change.
Aisha Hadejia is a Partner at Sahel Consulting; she writes as a guest contributor for EFInA.
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