Culture vs Credit

Hey, Sheriff here 👋 

Today on Tech Safari, we’re talking about women and their lack of access to credit in Africa.

As part of our IWD Series, we have Faith Kovi—a technical writer—taking us through The Digital Bride Price Effect, and how it keeps women locked out of loans.

Before we dive in, we’ve got an announcement…

Now, on to this week’s story….

Money and culture? In Africa, they’re inseparable.

For many women, money isn’t only defined by what they earn or save.

It’s also defined by traditions that run deep.

Take the bride price, for example. 

In many African cultures, part of getting married is paying a “bride price”.

It’s a marriage custom where the groom gives money or goods to the bride’s family as a sign of commitment.

Sometimes, it’s food items. Other times, it’s actual cash.

It’s not intended as a literal purchase of the bride.

But most times, the woman’s financial future is being mortgaged.

• In Mali, Equatorial Guinea, and Mauritania, women are legally required to obey their husbands.

• Until the ‘90s, women who worked for the Kenyan Government weren’t paid a housing allowance if they were married

• And until 2021, Gabonese women needed their husbands’ permission to open a bank account

Women also regularly get cut out of inheriting family assets like land and property once they’re married.

At best, these cultural biases take away women’s agency.

But at worst, it denies them a shot at ever building real wealth, because…

Women are locked out of credit

In Africa, land is the ultimate key to financial security.

It’s what most banks demand as collateral for loans.

The problem: women own very little of it.

Due to inheritance laws and cultural norms, African women hold only 10% to 20% of land titles - though they make up the majority of the agricultural workforce.

No land means no collateral. No collateral means no loans.

And no loans means they can’t grow their businesses.

So, when these women apply for credit, they’re often denied, or required to bring a male guarantor.  

Have a look at the numbers:

• In Nigeria, approximately 98% of Nigerian women are excluded from the formal credit market.

• Kenya’s Hustler Fund was originally set up to give 70% of its money to women — because they often paid back early. Today, 52% of the borrowers are men.

And it’s not just banks. 

Even informal lending groups (which are mostly female) suffer from these biases, making it even harder for women to access the capital they need. 

Across Sub-Saharan Africa, many women lean on community savings groups — known as ROSCAs — to pool their money and lend to each other.

In Kenya, Chamas function as informal investment groups, evolving beyond ROSCAs to fund ventures in real estate, transportation, and agriculture. 

But these groups often don’t have enough cash to help women get the capital they need to grow their businesses.

Sarafu-Credit, a community currency system, helps small businesses trade without cash but lacks the large-scale credit access women entrepreneurs need.

In Nigeria, Esusu operates as a traditional ROSCA, where members contribute to a common fund distributed on a rotating basis.

While it provides financial support, its loan sizes are small, and are barely enough to help.

Sure, both these informal groups and the big banks are old systems — so they’re heavily influenced by the cultures they came up in.

But today, we have fintechs offering loans without collateral — like Branch and Fairmoney.

On the surface, they seem great. They’re gender-blind, needing only a person’s earnings and credit history to give out a loan.

And they’re still serving women who’ve been locked in these bad systems for a long time.

So, it begs the question: what happens when modern financial systems go up against age-old customs? 

Spoiler: Women still get left out. 

Fintech: Breaking Barriers or Reinforcing Them?

While fintech does make it easier to access small loans, it’s still not leveling the playing field.

Many platforms assess creditworthiness based on mobile money usage, transaction history, and savings behaviour. 

But if a woman's finances are controlled by her husband or a male family member, her digital footprint might not reflect her true financial status.

Only 35% of Nigerian women have bank accounts, compared to 47.2% of men—a clear gap in financial access. And it doesn’t stop there. 

Just 36% of women in Nigeria have a Bank Verification Number — the key to using most formal financial services in the country.

To make things worse, many women across Africa don’t even have valid IDs, making it nearly impossible to access loans or digital banking. 

The system is stacked against them before they even get started.

And so it seems that beyond the typical bride price, women pay a heavy price to join the world of digital finance.

These numbers highlight what we call a “digital bride price”.

It’s real, it’s pervasive, and it’s expensive.

And because of it, even with fintech’s promise, many women still end up on the sidelines.

Women’s inclusion = Financial inclusion

So, what’s the fix?

A mix of better policies, smarter financial tools, and a shift in cultural mindset.

1 ) Legal Reforms: 

Some African countries are rewriting laws to give women better financial access.

• In Morocco, new reforms in 2024 strengthened women’s property rights.

• In 2012, Botswana's High Court ruled against male-only inheritance laws in a landmark case that affirmed women's rights to inherit property. 

• In 2016, Côte d'Ivoire adopted a new constitution which was praised for having better gender equality provisions.

2) Women-led Initiatives

Across Africa, women are overcoming financial barriers and transforming their communities. 

Nkem Okocha, for example, is empowering women through Mamamoni.

Growing up in Nigeria, she saw how financial struggles affected women, including her own mother, who faced difficulties after losing her husband. 

Determined to change this reality, she founded Mamamoni in 2013, a fintech social enterprise that provides vocational training and mobile loans to low-income women.

Since its inception, Mamamoni has supported over 4,000 women, helping them launch or expand businesses and work toward financial stability. 

Okocha’s vision is simple: when women gain financial independence, entire communities benefit.

In Ghana, Nana Adjoa Sifa Amponsah is also pushing for change.

The entrepreneur recognised the challenges women face in the agricultural sector and launched Guzakuza in 2015. 

Her mission was to equip women with the knowledge, funding, and market access needed to thrive in agribusiness.

Since then, Guzakuza has impacted over 8,000 women across 31 African countries and the diaspora, offering mentorship, business training, and networking opportunities. 

Amponsah believes that supporting women in agribusiness is key to strengthening economies and ensuring food security.

By taking action to bridge financial gaps, these women have created pathways for others to achieve financial freedom and long-term success.

The price to pay

Culture and finance are deeply connected, shaping women’s access to money in ways that can empower or exclude them.

While digital lending and policy changes offer hope, real financial inclusion takes more than technology.

It requires a cultural shift.

That’s slowly happening, especially with laws being rewritten to give women agency.

But until then, women across Africa will likely keep fighting for their financial freedom — one loan, one business, and one breakthrough at a time.

The price we pay for that is real — because Africa has the highest number of female entrepreneurs in the world.

And if they can’t grow, Africa can’t grow.

So, how do we build a financial system that truly works for women?

Email us back and let’s talk.

That’s it for this week. See you on Sunday for a breakdown on This Week in African Tech.

Cheers,

The Tech Safari Team

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