This article was contributed to TechCabal by Sabine Mensah.
While on a speaking tour in 2022 to share findings from a report I co-authored, a central bank official from West Africa shared a key observation. The report aimed to document the relationship between financial inclusion and the infrastructure provided by inclusive, instant payment systems, based on data available publicly. But as the central bank official shared, the research was inaccurate, because the publicly available data their country provided was wrong. Within a month, the central bank had updated its website and issued a press release with official statistics.
This experience illustrates the importance of accurate data to inform advocacy and motivate greater transparency in public sector efforts. We need more of that transparency as we work to expand financial inclusion through the catalyst of making digital payments more available and accessible to Africans.
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