Digital Finance, Financial Inclusion and Gender Equality: Strategies for Economic Empowerment of Women

Gender equality is an international right affirmed in the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 5. In this article, we examine how technology can address legal barriers to gender equality and financial inclusion in relation to identification, finance, employment and property rights. We argue that a combination of digital inclusion, digital public infrastructure, and a proportional risk-based regulatory approach can both reduce customary gender-based barriers and technology-driven gender bias to build an inclusive digital financial ecosystem. This is critical for achieving gender equality, female empowerment and inclusive financial and economic participation around the world.