Financial Inclusion Towards 2035:
Shifting Power, Shaping Systems

Welcome

Welcome to the Inaugural Bridgforte Dialogue Roundtable! I envisioned these Roundtables with the conviction that progress happens when we create spaces for unusual conversations — ones that challenge orthodoxies, spark unlikely coalitions, and generate bold, Africa-led solutions.

Today we focus on financial inclusion. Much has been achieved, yet too many remain persistently excluded. Our task is to uncover what’s missing, rethink our mental models, and co-create principles that move us beyond symbolic participation to structural transformation.

Your presence here is intentional, not incidental. This room has been curated with care because each of you brings the insight, influence, and commitment needed to shape systems that are not only inclusive but enduring.

As we begin this journey together, my hope is that the ideas exchanged and connections forged here will ripple outward — informing policy, shifting practice, and inspiring action.

Aishah Ndanusa Ahmad, CFA, OFR

Convener, Bridgforte Dialogues

“Together, we can design an inclusive and prosperous future for Africa and the world.”

“Regulation is not enough—we need an army. We must spark unusual conversations to address the elephants in the room and find unlikely coalitions that provide a new playbook. This is a call for candid, courageous leadership to create a more sustainable and resilient future for global finance.”

Aishah N. Ahmad, CFA, OFR

Convener, Bridgforte Dialogues

“Financial inclusion, or more broadly, economic inclusion, is not only about numbers. It is also about people, dignity, opportunity, and resilience.”

Rogério Zandamela

Governor, Bank of Mozambique (Virtual)

Building Trust and Local Education

Reaching 100 million new accounts, as in Nigeria with BVN, starts with grassroots engagement. Rwanda’s community ambassadors — trusted locals trained to teach their neighbours — spark real confidence in digital payments. Seamless conversion between cash and e-money, backed by stable systems, then reinforces that trust every day.

Bola Adesola

Chair, Ecobank

“We need to implement concrete steps through local engagement to build the trust necessary to include the under-represented.”

‘Developing the Rails’ with Patient Capital

Digital IDs, pan-African payment networks, even government-mandated partnerships like Ireland’s backing of Stripe all rest on long-term financing. Public-private “patient capital” models and PPP-style guarantees are essential for underwriting capex until ecosystems reach breakeven. As one leader put it, nothing scales without “lifting while we climb.”

Maya Horgan Famodu

Founder & Partner, Ingressive Capital

“The single biggest takeaway is the importance of us as individuals to lift while we climb by opening up our personal networks. We must provide patient capital and quality control to build the technical rails, because true financial inclusion begins with opening our communities.”

Leveraging Interoperable Technology as a Leapfrog Moment

With dozens of currencies and regulatory regimes, Africa’s next chapter depends on truly interoperable platforms to drive down costs and increase access. There was huge optimism that cross-border APIs and learnings from elsewhere (eg, India’s digital ID playbook) can make this happen — a once-in-a-generation opportunity to sidestep legacy fragmentation and script an inclusive fintech future.

Natasa Goronja

Executive Director, Center for Financial Inclusion

“Digital Public Infrastructure is rapidly connecting people to the formal financial system in countries like Brazil and India. This convening is an opportunity to ensure DPI delivers public value, fosters market dynamism, and safeguards system integrity.”

Embedding Health and Social Context

“Health is wealth,” and medical emergencies cause too many defaults. Kenya’s opt-out insurance modules — automatically bundled with financial products — demonstrate how combining financial products with social safeguards reduces risk and deepens inclusion. Financial tools have to adapt to real-world behaviours, not the other way around.

Adeola Azeez

Partner, Sigma Risk; Co-founder, WIMBIZ

“Financial inclusion must be a way of life, starting with internal corporate policies. I challenge every organisation to adopt the ESG model and dedicate a percentage of profits to social inclusion, backing it up with relentless advocacy at the grassroots to win the trust of local chiefs.”

Partnering and Co-creating with End Users

How can regulators, local leaders and end users design better solutions together? Whether it’s radio programmes during COVID or in-school projects teaching nine-year-olds about savings, decentralising education through ambassadors and creative local formats accelerates adoption and builds collective ownership.

HRH Muhammad Sanusi

Emir of Kano, Former Governor, CBN

“To overcome the literacy gap and reach rural populations, we must push for immediate solutions, leveraging technologies like biometrics so that everyone — even those without a card — can be included.”

Designing without end users at the table: leading to out-of-touch policies.

Deeply rooted distrust: low confidence in financial services after decades of instability.

Limited Internet and device access, especially in informal labour markets.

Overemphasis on account openings versus product quality and usage.

Financial literacy deficits, particularly around credit as a tool versus a trap.

Persistent reliance on cash and questions about the goal of a cashless society.

Misuse of platforms for unintended purposes, creating exploitative profit streams.

Inadequate communication channels to explain policy changes and consumer protections.

“I am passionate about a Cashless Nigeria, but despite efforts toward it, 65% of transactions are still in cash.”

— HRH Muhammad Sanusi

“Africa holds 17% of the world’s population but just 2% of digital commerce.”

— Shola Akinlade

Build products and policies with continuous input from target communities, ensuring cultural relevance and usability.

Innovate around existing behaviours and infrastructures (eg, informal savings groups, radio networks) rather than lamenting what is missing.

Embed clear safeguards around data privacy, transaction limits, and recourse mechanisms to build confidence.

Collect and share practical data on how people actually use digital money, so interventions can evolve in real time.

Deploy multi-channel education — through ambassadors, schools, radio, social media — to raise awareness of products, policies, and healthy credit practices.

Financial Inclusion by Years