By Our Reporter
Letshego Uganda has been nominated by the African Gaurantee Fund for the AFAWA Bank of the Year Award at the African Banker Awards set for Sharm-El-Sheikh, Egypt on 24th May 2023.
The African Banker Awards are a landmark annual event for African Banking that celebrates excellence and best practices in African banking recognising the personalities and banks that are driving Africa’s rapidly transforming financial sector. They celebrate the achievements of those who are driving growth, development and creating new economic opportunities for citizens and communities all over the continent and inspire new generations of bankers who are shaping Africa’s future.
Women’s economic empowerment and financial inclusion have been recognized as key to achieving the 2030 agenda for Sustainable Development. This year’s Awards gala is poised to accentuate the theme of gender equity in the industry. In partnership with the African Development Bank (AfDB) and African Guarantee Fund, a fresh accolade has been instituted to acknowledge and encourage initiatives aimed at propelling financial inclusivity for “Women across the African continent”. The AfDB’s AFAWA (Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa) is a Pan-African initiative to bridge the $42billion financing gap facing women in Africa.
Letshego Uganda CEO Giles Aijukwe said, “At Letshego, we spotlight financial literacy because we have realized the power that financial education provides; basic skills related to earning, spending, budgeting, borrowing, saving and seizing growth opportunities. Today, nearly a billion women around the world are unserved or underserved by the formal financial sector and unable to reach their full economic potential. If you brought all these women together, they would make up the third-largest country in the world.”
Given the might of financial institutions, be it, mainstream banks or MFIs (Microfinance Institutions) – they’re a powerful instrument for women empowerment. Women’s ability to save, borrow and control their own money and assets- reduces poverty and promotes inclusive growth. Unequal gender roles have implications for the most basic aspects of self-determination, dignity and freedom, which in turn influence financial inclusion – or lack thereof.
“Financial inclusion requires that low-income people have a convenient way to send money and make payments. We have prioritized this in Uganda with our Group Lending products (women as primary beneficiaries) alongside digital channels usage of USSD (*287#) and our Letshego Digital Mall that eases access to financial services accessible through mobile phones. This is a commendable and timely nomination for Letshego Uganda,” Aijukwe emphasized.