Somewhere in Nigeria today, a woman will successfully run a business, repay informal debt, contribute to a savings group, support her household, and still be considered financially risky by the formal systems supposedly built to include her.
This is one of the greatest contradictions in financial inclusion today.
Across emerging economies, billions of dollars have gone into expanding formal financial systems through digital banking, mobile money, fintech, agency networks, and financial literacy programmes. On paper, the numbers suggest progress. More people now have bank accounts, and digital payments are growing rapidly. Yet millions remain financially underserved not because financial products do not exist, but because many systems are still designed around assumptions disconnected from everyday realities.
This contradiction is especially visible in Nigeria, where women play significant roles in the informal economy through trade, agriculture, caregiving and small-scale enterprises that keep households and communities functioning daily. Yet many financial systems
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