This year, the Group of Seven (G7) outlined an agenda to fight inequality. As part of this agenda, the G7 Partnership for Women’s Digital Financial Inclusion in Africa will support African governments, central banks, and financial institutions in their efforts to build more inclusive, sustainable, and responsible digital financial systems, ensuring that 400 million more African adults are financially included—nearly 60 percent of whom are women. Essential to efforts to expand digital financial inclusion to women
in Africa are five pillars that fall into three categories: infrastructure, regulation, and planning.

This report draws on the lessons The Bill & Belinda Gate’s Foundation has learned about financial services for the poor since the G7 Partnership started investing in the area about 15 years ago. It identifies five key ways in which G7 countries can support African countries as their leaders seek to include more than 400 million people in the digital economy for the first time.