African Development Bank (AfDB) has awarded a grant of $320,535 to the West African Monetary Agency (WAMA) to support several WAMA strategies that address gender gap.

WAMA is a specialised agency of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) that promotes monetary cooperation and consultation among member states.

The AfDB grant will support a three-year project to focus on gender disaggregation data analytics, digital payment services and infrastructure, and digital identity in all 15 ECOWAS nations, according to a statement from the bank.

Africa has a gender-inclusion gap of 11 percent as compared to the global average of nine percent, according to the 2017 Findex Report.

Also, records show that West Africa has the highest gender disparity in Africa as reflected in the region’s Gender Development Index of 0.825 versus the African average of 0.871.

The project, according to the bank, has the potential to raise by 35 percent women’s participation in digital financial market operations in the region.

The grant will be disbursed through the Africa Digital Financial Inclusion (ADFI) facility.

‘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’, the ADFI Coordinator, Sheila Okiro, said.

‘ADFI and the WAMA project team will work closely with other ecosystem players in the region to ensure harmonisation of efforts for maximum impact’.

The project is aligned to ADFI’s strategic goals including its cross-cutting focus on gender inclusion.

ADFI is a pan-African instrument designed to accelerate digital financial inclusion throughout Africa, with the goal of ensuring that an additional 332 million Africans have access to the formal financial system.

Source: AfDB

Photo source: AfDB