Abstract Book of the 4th World Conference on Gender Equality
Year: 2026
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Beyond the Abolished E-Levy: Women, Mobile Money, and the Unfinished Struggle for Digital Financial Inclusion in Ghana
Eyram Agbo
ABSTRACT:
The repeal of Ghana’s Electronic Transaction Levy (E-Levy) in April 2025 was widely celebrated as a victory for consumers and businesses, but its consequences for gendered financial inclusion remain unclear. Women particularly market traders and micro-entrepreneurs continue to encounter systemic barriers including digital literacy gaps, limited smartphone access, cyber-harassment, and cultural norms that constrain participation in formal finance. Existing data already reveal an 11.6 percentage point gap in account ownership between men and women (World Bank, 2021), while fiscal measures such as the E-Levy had further entrenched exclusion (Carreras et al., 2024; IDS, 2025). This study interrogates whether removing a regressive tax is sufficient to advance digital financial inclusion, or whether entrenched inequalities persist beyond fiscal reform. Using a mixed-methods design, it combines surveys of market traders in Tema, interviews with women entrepreneurs and mobile money agents, and gender-disaggregated transaction data from financial providers. Preliminary findings suggest that although women’s transaction volumes increased post-levy, structural challenges such as mistrust of formal institutions, affordability of devices, and exposure to online risks continue to undermine empowerment. The paper argues that Ghana’s Digital Ghana Agenda 2030 risks reproducing exclusion unless gender-sensitive interventions are mainstreamed.
Linking fiscal policy shifts to women’s lived experiences in digital finance, this study contributes a novel perspective on the unfinished struggle for equitable digital economies in Africa. It provides actionable insights for policymakers and financial service providers seeking to design inclusive digital ecosystems that extend beyond taxation reform.
Keywords: Cyber-Harassment, Digital Ghana Agenda 2030, Digital Literacy, Financial Empowerment, Micro-Entrepreneurs