FINANCIAL inclusion in Zambia increased by 10.1 percentage points in 2020, up from 2015, but males are still proving to be more financially literate and significantly more financially included over females, according to the latest Finscope Survey results.

The Finscope Survey, whose main objective is to determine the levels of access to and use of financial products and services by the adult population and provide policy information needed for the development of the financial landscape, reveals that citizens are becoming more financially literate thanks to an explosion in digital financial services made available by mobile money service providers.

In 2005, Zambia did its first Finscope. A set of enquiries showed us that 33.7% of households were financially included, of which 22.4% were formal service users and 11.3% were informal service users.

Subsequent surveys have added questions on digital finance, microenterprises, and looked at other aspects of financial inclusion, and determined the gender gap and age effects.

15 years later, financial inclusion increased by 10.1 percentage points to 69.4% last year from 59.3% in 2015, with 71.2% of males more financially included compared to 67.9% of female citizens.

Though progress is being made in the area of financial inclusion, it’s clear that Zambia still has a long way to go for more citizens to be financially literate.

The SME sector constitutes the vast majority of Zambia’s economy and remains the bedrock of the country’s economic development, but still faces challenges in financial literacy and growing their marketing capacity to become more productive.

Agova Zambia, the business development consultancy firm, is responding to this challenge and is currently an implementing partner on the EDGE project, a USAID-funded project, set to develop agro-focused SMEs’ marketing and management capacity.

The project began in August 2020 and started conducting the Business Advisors Onboarding / Business Advisors network in April 2021 in Lusaka. The EDGE project aims to increase the profitability, productivity, and job creation of agricultural SMEs by addressing key constraints in access to finance, business management, technology, and access to markets.

It also aims to improve the performance of 450 agro-SMEs by increasing their profits by 30%, increasing their revenues by 40%, and creating 2,500 full-time jobs. Over the next five years, EDGE will boost SMEs’ competitiveness by addressing key constraints that they face.

It will also apply its inclusive market systems approach, which addresses the root causes, rather than the symptoms, of a poorly performing market. EDGE has so far recruited an initial cohort of 10 Business Advisors (4 in Eastern, 4 in Central, and 2 in Lusaka).

In order to familiarise the Business Advisors with the EDGE project, develop a comprehensive understanding of their roles and responsibilities, and equipping them with the necessary skills to successfully accomplish their duties, EDGE conducted two-day Business Advisors onboarding training from April 27-28 held at the EDGE offices.

Agova’s key activities are focusing on increasing the competitiveness of SMEs’ products by a two-fold approach:

1. Strengthening SMEs’ marketing and management capacity through the provision of business development services (BDS) such as tailored consulting, periodic trainings and technical support;
2. Improving SMEs’ input / output relationships by facilitating linkages with key inputs suppliers, off-takers and other relevant partners.

Agova recognises that for the country’s SME sector to meaningfully contribute towards the country’s economic development, SMEs need to be equipped with the right financial tools to maximise their returns and expedite their growth potential.