At Equal Footing, we believe that change happens when we dive into the real stories and real solutions that are driving gender equality forward. In our debut episode, we sit down with Tolulope Babajide — a seasoned gender specialist and financial inclusion expert — to unpack two critical questions:

👉🏾 What does true empowerment look like for women in Africa today?

👉🏾 And what’s actually working to close the gender gap in financial access?

📊 Here’s the reality:

- Women in Sub-Saharan Africa are 12% less likely than men to own a bank account

- Only 30% of women have mobile money accounts, compared to 36% of men

- Women’s digital usage remains low — just 11% made utility payments via mobile money, compared to 37% of men

These aren't just numbers. They represent barriers to agency, opportunity, and security — and Tolu is one of many experts working to close them.

💡 In this episode, we explore:

1. What empowerment looks like for Africa women, and the importance of women telling their own stories

2. Why segmented, human-centered design matters — and how treating women as a monolith limits impact

3. How informal savings groups like chamas (Kenya) and Esusu (Nigeria) are unlocking resilience and social capital

4. Innovations in flexible financing — like maternity-sensitive loans and grace periods — that meet women where they are

5. How alternative credit scoring tools are widening access and improving repayment outcomes

6. The power of grassroots women’s movements to shift policy—not just participate in itThis episode challenges funders, practitioners, and policymakers to build systems that don’t just include women—they’re built around the women already doing the work.

🟣 Equal Footing is a podcast by the Usawa Collective, spotlighting African voices reimagining what equity looks like in practice.