Here Are What You Should Know About MTN’s YDFS & AFDB Partnership

When it comes to women and financial access, research reveals a glaring gap: women are lagging behind.

According to a 2020 survey by Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access (EFInA) the financial inclusion gender gap has persisted. Adult men are more likely to be banked than adult women. Adult women tend to use more informal financial services than adult men and women remain significantly excluded compared to men. Of the 106 million adults above 18 years of age in Nigeria, 32% of men were financially excluded while 40% of the women were financially excluded.  The northwest and northeast zones continue to be most excluded. While progress has been made in the northeast, the large population in the northwest is predominantly excluded with 68% of the population financially excluded.

Women disproportionately face financial access barriers which prevent them from participating in the economy and improving their lives. In order to overcome these economic, religious, and social factors, the African Development Bank (AFDB) has signed a $500,000 grant with Y’ello Digital Financial Services (YDFS), the fintech subsidiary of MTN Nigeria to provide insights into women’s use of mobile money services to facilitate measures to enhance greater financial inclusion for them.

Here’s what we know about the partnership:

1. A pre-pilot test: The grant will cover a prototype approach, to study possible challenges and bottlenecks that might be faced by women, especially in the north to access financial services. This study is also aimed at attracting more women to the mobile banking services and agent business.
2. An avenue for economic empowerment: Economic empowerment for women is a priority for inclusive and equitable economic growth. The grant initiative and funding by AFDB initiative, Africa Digital Financial Inclusion Facility (ADFI), will not only be used to broaden women’s access to finance in Nigeria but also to provide an avenue for their increased economic empowerment. This empowerment will in turn help overcome persistent gender-based barriers and advance the health, education and economic security of these women and their families. ADFI is an innovative financing vehicle, designed to accelerate digital financial inclusion across Africa.
3. Unrivalled commitment and innovation: YDFS was selected from nearly 340 proposals sent in response to ADFI’s call to support financial inclusion in Africa using digital technology. ADFI was looking for innovative thinking that is intentional in addressing the persistent financial inclusion gender gap on the continent. Y’ello Digital Financial Services remains focused on enhancing Nigeria’s access to financial services by seeking out partnerships to accelerate the Central Bank of Nigeria’s drive for financial inclusion.
4. Contributing to Sustainable Development Goals: The overarching objective of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group is to spur sustainable economic development and social progress in its regional member countries (RMCs), thus contributing to poverty reduction. By supporting this project, The African Development Bank, through the Africa Digital Financial Inclusion Facility (ADFI), is improving the quality of life for people in Africa and contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals to help reduce poverty and inequality, particularly relating to gender.
5. MTN is an enabler of financial inclusion in Nigeria: Since the establishment of YDFS in 2019 as the fintech subsidiary of MTN, YDFS has broadened the availability of financial services for the under-served across the country and has continued to support the financial inclusion agenda of the Central Bank of Nigeria in  every capacity by forging meaningful and strategic partnerships to close the financial exclusion gap in Nigeria.

A strong agent banking network forms the backbone for the adoption of digital financial services. The Central Bank of Nigeria has, in recent years, been working to create a more conducive environment for the adoption of digital financial services. One of such efforts involved a licensing regime for super-agents that opened the provision of agency banking services to select non-bank financial service providers.

As a recipient of the licenses, MTN Nigeria, through its fintech subsidiary, YDFS, is seeking to strengthen its super-agent network in the northern part of the country, with particular focus on women’s access to finance. YDFS seeks to innovate around its agency banking network to facilitate gender inclusion.