Moniepoint canvasses financial inclusion for women

The founder/Chief Executive Officer of Moniepoint Inc., Tosin Eniolorunda, has said that it is more profitable to provide financial services to women than men.

Eniolorunda said this in a statement shared with The PUNCH on Tuesday while highlighting the need to push for financial inclusion for women.

He affirmed that for financial inclusion to be sustainable, especially for women, it must no longer be treated as a buzzword, charitable social activity or a checklist to be marked, it must be rooted in economic and business activities that are defined by data considering that it is actually more profitable to serve women.

Speaking during a recent plenary session titled ‘Leveraging Data to Accelerate Access to Finance for Woman Owned and Women-Led Enterprises in Nigeria’ which was moderated by the Deputy Governor, Operations, Central Bank of Nigeria, Ms Emem Usoro, the Moniepoint CEO who relied on data curated from the Moniepoint platform, said, “Women-owned businesses are more likely to stay active and show higher engagement rates in financial transactions.”

The plenary session was part of the second International Financial Inclusion Conference organised by CBN and other critical stakeholders with the theme ‘Inclusive Growth: Harnessing Financial Inclusion for Economic Development.’

He added that in cases where financial support has been extended—through investments, KYC compliance, or the provision of tools like point-of-sale devices—female-led businesses have a 7.2 per cent higher activity rate than their male counterparts while looking at the gender relations with credit products, “women-owned businesses have an 87.5 per cent lower loan non-performance rate than male-owned enterprises.”

Eniolorunda also made a case for the economic potential of investing in women entrepreneurs, who have proven to be diligent and enhance profitability while calling stakeholders to pay attention to the need to drive financial inclusion in the Northern part of the country.

He continued, “Data is the new oil,” and “its application in the financial sector could be transformative for women-led businesses.”

Echoing similar sentiments, Chief Executive Officer, Credit Registry, Dr Jameelah Sharrieff-Ayedun said, ”90 per cent of women’s income that they receive goes back to the communities and their families as such when women have access to credit, the community is enhanced, families are better off which is why it’s important that they can access this funding.”

Other panellists included the Chief Executive Officer, Financial Alliance for Women, Inez Murray,  and the Chief Operating Officer, Development Bank of Nigeria, Bonaventure Okhaimo who expressed belief that creating an enabling environment, with increased investor participation coupled with the willingness of other stakeholders to sit around the table and have frank conversations will move the needle on financial inclusion for women-owned businesses.

In her summation, Usoro acknowledged some of the structural challenges that might require time and resources to be addressed including cultural practices and less systemic ones, such as distance to financial services providers that stifle the participation of women-owned businesses, while signposting the power of data to catalyse inclusive growth and its viability for economic planning.

The inaugural IFIC was held in Abuja and focused on Nigeria’s achievements since the launch of the National Financial Inclusion Strategy in 2012.