LocationsEvent Report: AFRICONVERSE 2026 #3
Africa-Japan Dialogue on Financial Inclusion: Expanding Economic Participation through Digital Finance
Panel Discussion on Reimagining Financial Inclusion through Fintech
The third session of AFRICONVERSE 2026, titled “Africa-Japan Dialogue on Financial Inclusion: Expanding Economic Participation through Digital Finance,” was held on 23 July 2026, at the United Nations University’s second-floor Reception Hall and online in a hybrid format. More than 230 participants joined in person and online. Speakers representing government, international organizations, academia, and the private sector discussed the opportunities and challenges of advancing financial inclusion in Africa.
The session examined how digital finance, which is expanding across Africa, can evolve beyond enabling remittances and payments to support income growth, resilience to risks, business investment, and asset building. Key issues included payment systems that enable seamless transactions across different financial institutions and services, digital identification, responsible data use, appropriate regulation, public-private collaboration, digital literacy, and consumer protection.
Discussions also centered on what “meaningful financial inclusion” should look like for people who remain underserved by financial services, including young people, women, farmers, and low-income populations. Participants exchanged views on credit assessment using alternative data, lending aligned with repayment capacity, the importance of local trust and cultural understanding, addressing bias in AI, and approaches to Africa-Japan co-creation and financing.
< Speakers >
Opening
・Ms. Misako Takahashi, Director-General, Assistant Minister of African Affairs Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan
Keynote Speaker and Moderator
・Raymond Gilpin, Chief Economist, Head, Strategy, Analysis and Research, Regional Bureau for Africa, UNDP
Panel Discussion
・Ms. Suzuka Sugawara, Senior Advisor on Poverty Reduction, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)
・Dr. Takeshi Inoue, Associate Professor, Graduate School of International Cooperation Studies, Kobe University
・Mr. Reiji Kobayashi, Co-Founder & CEO, HAKKI GROUP INC
・Ms. Deborah Cudjoe, Finance & Sustainability, Founder of Eduvora Connect/Consulting, International Business Development, TOKYO8 GLOBAL
Closing Remarks
・Ms. Minako Shiotsuka, Deputy Director General for Planning and TICAD Process, Africa Department, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)
Opening
In her opening remarks, Ms. Misako Takahashi emphasized the importance of harnessing digital finance to improve livelihoods, support business growth, and further advance inclusive economic participation in Africa.
Across Africa, financial services delivered through mobile phones have expanded rapidly through “leapfrogging,” with mobile money ownership reaching a high level of 40 percent. At the same time, access to financial services such as borrowing and savings remains limited. Against this backdrop, Ms. Takahashi stressed the need to move financial inclusion beyond simply enabling transfers and payments toward a stage in which people can build stable livelihoods, manage risks, invest in businesses, and generate sustainable income.
She also underscored that realizing the full potential of fintech requires reliable and inclusive digital financial infrastructure, including payment systems, digital identification, responsible data use, appropriate regulation, and public-private collaboration. At the same time, she cautioned that gaps in digital literacy and weak consumer protection could further exclude people from financial services. She concluded by expressing strong expectations that the dialogue would advance the TICAD 9 priorities of digital transformation, private sector growth, and youth empowerment, and lead to practical collaboration among governments, financial institutions, businesses, and the next generation of leaders.
Opening Remarks by Ms. Misako Takahashi, Director-General, Assistant Minister of African Affairs Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan
Keynote: “Financial Inclusion as a Shared Priority”
Raymond Gilpin of the UNDP Regional Bureau for Africa delivered a keynote address on “Financial Inclusion as a Shared Priority.” He described financial inclusion as going beyond physical access to banks to a state in which everyone can use safe and equitable digital financial services. Such systems, he noted, can help narrow gaps in access to financial services between rural and urban areas and between women and men.
Gilpin outlined three pillars for achieving this. First, the cost of small-value transfers and payments must be reduced so that financial services can be used routinely. Second, mobile phones and local agent networks can be leveraged to deliver services even in areas without bank branches. Third, the use of digital finance should extend beyond transfers and payments to support long-term asset building through savings and investment. He explained that, unlike state-led or large technology company-led models in other regions, the expansion of digital finance in Africa has been driven by telecommunications companies and local agent networks. High mobile phone penetration and innovation born out of necessity, he noted, have enabled development that leapfrogs conventional stages.
Gilpin also noted that digital finance can reduce corporate transaction costs by 30-40 percent and make visible economic activity that has traditionally taken place outside bank accounts, with cash kept at home - the so-called “mattress economy” - thereby contributing to a broader tax base and the formalization of economic activity.
Keynote by Raymond Gilpin, Chief Economist, Head, Strategy, Analysis and Research, Regional Bureau for Africa, UNDP
Panel Discussion: From Access to Empowerment: Reimagining Financial Inclusion through Fintech
The panel discussion explored how basic access to digital finance can be translated into credit, asset building, resilience to risks, and business growth. From the perspectives of academia, JICA, startups, and the private sector, panelists examined what “meaningful inclusion” should entail for people who remain underserved by financial services.
Deep-Dive Round 1: From Access to Empowerment
Dr. Takeshi Inoue of Kobe University presented financial inclusion as a relatively new concept in financial development and explained that, historically, limited bank branch networks have constrained financial access in developing countries. By contrast, mobile money has enabled Sub-Saharan Africa to emerge as a global leader: 19 of the 20 countries worldwide where mobile money account ownership exceeds bank account ownership are in the region.
Drawing on an analysis of the World Bank’s Global Findex 2021, Dr. Inoue noted that mobile money users tend to be younger, literate, middle- to higher-income, and recipients of remittances, while bank account users tend to be older and more highly educated. He added that Africa’s expanding youth population is likely to further accelerate the adoption of digital finance.
Mr. Reiji Kobayashi of HAKKI GROUP INC described the situation facing taxi drivers in Kenya, who pay USD 12 per day in vehicle rental fees - around USD 5,000 over 18 months, enough to purchase a car - yet only 5 percent of the population can access conventional bank loans. To address this financing gap, HAKKI GROUP INC uses data such as M-Pesa transaction records, location information, and automated bookkeeping through APIs to assess repayment capacity and provide vehicle-backed financing.
In making lending decisions, the company places particular emphasis on drivers’ actual income and uses monthly gross income of KES 95,000 (approximately USD 735) as one benchmark. Rather than immediately extending financing to drivers below that threshold, HAKKI GROUP INC first supports income improvement based on driving routes and patterns of demand, and then reassesses the possibility of financing. Mr. Kobayashi explained that using vehicles as collateral rather than providing unsecured loans is intended to ensure responsible lending that does not exceed borrowers’ repayment capacity.
Ms. Deborah Cudjoe, Founder of Eduvora Connect and responsible for international business development at TOKYO8 GLOBAL, noted that the expansion of digital finance does not necessarily translate into meaningful economic participation for young people, women, and farmers. She highlighted that, in Ghana, mobile money use increased by 38 percent following the COVID-19 pandemic, while access to formal borrowing remains below 9 percent. Recalling her mother’s experience of being required to provide extensive documentation and guarantors at a bank, Ms. Cudjoe argued that the central challenge has shifted from physical access to financial institutions toward designing financial services that reflect users’ needs.
She further emphasized that reaching people who remain underserved requires locally rooted trust as well as an understanding of language and culture. Citing examples of African entrepreneurs acting as bridges between Japanese technologies, including TOKYO8’s biofertilizer technology, and farmers in rural areas, she underscored the importance of building systems that draw on local people and relationships.
Ms. Suzuka Sugawara of JICA explained that “meaningful financial inclusion” is not simply about having access to an account or an app. Rather, it means enabling low-income people and women to save safely, prepare for unexpected shocks, and invest in their future livelihoods. She stressed the importance of communication grounded in local realities and of trusted local institutions such as rotating savings and credit associations (ROSCAs), credit unions, and cooperatives.
Ms. Sugawara also identified “high technology,” “high context,” and “human oversight” as essential conditions for making digital finance truly inclusive. She cautioned that if historical data do not adequately represent women and rural populations, AI-based credit scoring may reproduce and amplify existing gender disparities and urban bias. She therefore emphasized the need for inclusive design and appropriate human oversight.
Left: Deborah Cudjoe, Finance & Sustainability, Founder of Eduvora Connect/Consulting, International Business Development, TOKYO8 GLOBAL; Right: Reiji Kobayashi, Co-Founder & CEO, HAKKI AFRICA Inc.
Deep-Dive Round 2: Africa-Japan Collaboration
The second round focused on cross-border knowledge transfer, financing, and approaches to building equitable international partnerships.
Drawing on experiences from South Asia and India, Dr. Inoue highlighted the importance of reducing know-your-customer (KYC) costs through biometric digital identification systems such as Aadhaar, connecting fragmented markets through interoperable payment infrastructure such as the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), and balancing innovation with consumer protection through flexible regulatory approaches, including regulatory sandboxes. He also cited Bangladesh’s bKash as an example of how supportive regulation can foster the growth of inclusive digital finance.
Mr. Kobayashi pointed to a capital mismatch: Japanese companies hold approximately JPY 360 trillion in surplus funds at near-zero interest rates, while borrowing rates in Africa can reach 15–20 percent. He called on Japanese companies to provide patient, low-cost capital to support the growth of fintech companies operating in Africa.
Ms. Cudjoe argued that Africa-Japan cooperation should move beyond one-way assistance toward co-creation in which African entrepreneurs and communities are positioned as partners and decision-makers. She proposed building on existing local ideas and capabilities, transferring knowledge in forms that can be applied locally, and, where appropriate, using loans rather than grants to strengthen accountability.
Ms. Sugawara noted that development partners can play a role in reducing investment risk, strengthening regulatory and digital ecosystems, and ensuring that financial innovation remains inclusive and responsible. At the same time, she emphasized the importance of Africa and Japan developing solutions together while recognizing Africa’s leadership in digital finance.
Suzuka Sugawara, Senior Advisor on Poverty Reduction, JICA
Q&A Session
Asked how telecommunications and fintech companies can be held accountable for maintaining services and expanding networks in rural areas where immediate commercial returns may be limited, Dr. Inoue responded that robust institutions and regulation become increasingly important as digital finance matures. Over the medium to long term, he said, governments need both to support and oversee private-sector actors in order to sustain inclusive infrastructure and service provision.
In response to a question on whether fintech can replace traditional credit constraints or merely serves as a temporary bridge, Gilpin explained that digital finance is not a wholesale substitute for underlying financial systems, but rather an enabling tool and bridge that can empower people. He emphasized that technology must be combined with supportive regulation, risk mitigation, and agency for users.
On the potential to combine cooperative finance and local knowledge with digital technology, Ms. Sugawara noted that trust-based cooperative and relationship-oriented financial models offer valuable lessons. Local microfinance institutions and cooperatives already enjoy community trust, she said, but need to digitalize their operations in order to remain viable amid competition from larger fintech companies.
Responding to an online question on priorities in areas with weak digital infrastructure and low trust in government, Ms. Cudjoe observed that culture and social acceptance are not static but evolve over time. Rather than imposing new technologies on existing communities, she argued, stakeholders should embrace them in good faith as tools for national development and pursue cooperation and inclusive alignment with local communities.
Finally, on how to maintain responsible finance in fragile and conflict-affected contexts, Mr. Kobayashi stated that, in markets with weak state regulation or high levels of risk, private lenders need strict internal compliance and self-regulation. Rather than imposing excessive interest rates, he argued, lenders should pursue value-aligned, mutually beneficial business models that directly support local small and medium-sized enterprises.
Closing Remarks by Ms. Minako Shiotsuka, Deputy Director General for Planning and TICAD Process, Africa Department, JICA
Closing
In closing, Ms. Minako Shiotsuka of JICA stated that meaningful financial inclusion must expand economic participation, resilience, and opportunity. Drawing on her experience in Rwanda, she highlighted the benefits that mobile money can bring to small businesses, women, and young people, while also stressing the need for stronger digital literacy and consumer protection. She called for deeper co-creation between Africa and Japan.
The discussions underscored that the success of financial inclusion cannot be measured solely by whether people have access to an account or an app. Enabling people to save safely, withstand shocks, and invest in businesses and future livelihoods requires not only technology, but also local trust, inclusive design, human oversight, responsible regulation, long-term financing, and equitable co-creation between Africa and Japan.
