Motivation
Persistent gender inequalities and entrenched patriarchal norms in rural Nigerian communities severely constrain women’s economic empowerment and household decision-making. Consequently, women face disproportionate exclusion from the formal financial system, with only 31 percent holding formal financial accounts compared to 61 percent of men. While 31.4 percent of women borrow to finance their businesses, a mere 3.7 percent utilize formal financial institutions, and only 3.9 percent have mobile money accounts that could ease transactions. This gender gap, driven by patriarchy, gender norms, and limited decision-making power, leaves 98 percent of women excluded from formal credit markets. Furthermore, while digital financial literacy interventions have shown some promise in increasing engagement, existing evidence regarding digital interventions aimed at shifting gender norms remains mixed. These variations highlight the critical need to understand household dynamics and male attitudes before deploying digital financial services (DFS) targeted specifically at women.
Objective
This exploratory qualitative study investigates the feasibility of a feminized, community-based digital financial program designed to train both spouses and strengthen men’s support for women’s financial inclusion. Targeting married couples in rural Sokoto State, Nigeria, the study addresses seven central issues: the extent of male dominance in rural households, spousal financial inclusion patterns, household DFS preferences, barriers and potential for DFS uptake, expectations from a community-based DFS intervention, and the prospects of mobilizing male support for an upcoming randomized controlled trial (RCT). By co-training spouses in digital financial literacy, the project tests a theory of change positing that joint engagement can reshape intra-household norms, increase men’s willingness to support women’s access to digital credit systems, and diminish structural male dominance in financial decision-making.
Proposed impact
The research will generate rich qualitative data that deepens the understanding of how marital structures, household power relations, and gender norms shape women’s engagement with DFS in rural Sokoto State. It will document prevailing social norms regarding financial authority within both monogamous and polygamous households, and surface the strategies women use to privately negotiate, accommodate, or resist gendered control over their financial autonomy. Ultimately, the findings will yield theory-building and policy-relevant insights to inform the deployment of future gender-sensitive digital finance interventions, aiming to improve financial inclusion by aligning program designs with women lived realities and household constraints in low-income, socially conservative contexts.
Photo credit: Annie Spratt on Unsplash
