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Paper short abstract

The paper assesses the effect of financial inclusion policies on women and finds that, though financial inclusion initiatives promise greater integration, government-endorsed capitalist systems ultimately force women to participate in a deficient financial cycle.

Paper long abstract

Financial inclusion has been touted as a means to integrate women into the financial economy, providing credit and other relevant financial products to support their businesses. In reality, it brings the unbanked population into government regulation and stealthily into taxation regimes. The government of Ghana, aware of gains to be made, implemented several measures to rope the vulnerable, usually women, into the finance sector. From liberalisation of the banking sector in the early eighties, through the introduction of a Microfinance Policy in 2006, to a Digital Financial Services Inclusion Policy in 2020, support to the vulnerable has evolved. This paper draws on relevant policies and in-depth interviews with females, males and young people in Ashanti, Western and Northern Regions of Ghana, to examine the effects of the government’s financial inclusion on women. Foucault’s concept of governmentality illustrates how the state sustains market-driven rationalities that compel individuals to assume responsibility for their own economic well-being. Similarly, I argue that despite the existence of a financial inclusion policy, the government has effectively shifted responsibility for women’s financial empowerment to women, via the private sector. These private providers focus on profit maximization through electronic platforms and products, compelling women to circulate their limited funds among themselves. Consequently, women remain caught in a recurring financial cycle marked by restricted credit access. I conclude that financial inclusion integrates women into the formal economy but fails to address structural barriers that impede access to meaningful financial support. These findings have implications for future policies.