Fido Microfinance Limited has secured GH¢1 million in support from the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), in partnership with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in a major push to expand digital financial services and strengthen financial inclusion in Ghana.
The funding is expected to help Fido develop and scale digital finance solutions designed to address some of the biggest challenges confronting women and young entrepreneurs, particularly those operating micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
Fido was among five financial institutions selected under the UN-backed digital finance programme to develop and test solutions aimed at breaking down barriers to finance.
The initiative is being implemented under the Joint UNCDF Fund Programme on Leveraging Digital Ecosystems for Increased MSME Productivity, a three-year programme focused on strengthening Ghana’s digital economy while improving access to finance and other opportunities for underserved businesses.
Women and Youth at the Centre
The partnership comes at a time when thousands of women and young entrepreneurs continue to struggle to secure affordable financing for their businesses.
Limited collateral, strict lending conditions and the high cost of borrowing have remained significant obstacles for many entrepreneurs seeking to expand their businesses.
Fido said extensive research into the financial challenges facing women and young entrepreneurs formed the foundation for its selection under the programme.
Rather than simply introducing financial products into the market, the company said it first engaged its target customers to understand their experiences.
Fido’s Customer Advocacy Manager, Marvin Agyapong, explained that the company went directly into communities to identify the challenges confronting potential customers.
“From our research phase, what we did was we were able to engage the customers or the public, but specifically for this project, we targeted the women and the youth.”
Marvin Agyapong
According to Mr Agyapong, the research revealed significant difficulties surrounding access to finance, repayment obligations and lending conditions.
“We understood their problems. In fact, the current challenges they are having regarding having access to finance when it comes to running their businesses, the repayment terms, which are currently harsh in the market, and some level of complaints they shared with us.”
Marvin Agyapong
Customer Pain Points Drive New Products
The research subsequently influenced Fido’s enhanced savings and credit offerings, with the company seeking to build products around the actual needs of entrepreneurs.
“We actually relied on the customer’s pain point to develop the products that we currently can see, which is the enhanced savings product or digital savings products we have now and our credit product as well.”
Marvin Agyapong
The approach signals a growing shift in Ghana’s financial sector towards using customer data and digital technology to create financial products for people who have traditionally been underserved by conventional banking systems.
For many small business owners, access to appropriate savings and credit can determine whether a business survives, expands or remains trapped at subsistence level.
Fido Turns to Videos for Financial Literacy
Beyond financing, Fido identified financial literacy as another major challenge affecting women and young entrepreneurs.
The company subsequently introduced the Fido Academy, a digital financial literacy platform designed to make financial education more accessible.
Mr Agyapong said traditional financial literacy initiatives sometimes struggled to attract women because lengthy written materials could be difficult for some customers to access.
“One of the major things we realised out there was that most of these women were not so much interested in financial literacy projects because of how difficult it was for them to read.”
Marvin Agyapong
Fido therefore adopted a more visual approach by using videos to deliver practical financial education.“Coming up with a product that focuses more on giving them insight and knowledge through videos has really helped,” he said.
The strategy is expected to make financial education easier to consume while helping entrepreneurs improve their understanding of borrowing, savings, repayment and business management.
AI and Technology Give Fido an Edge
Fido’s existing technological infrastructure also played a major role in securing the confidence of its UN partners.
Mr Agyapong pointed to the company’s customer base, technological capabilities, data-driven decision-making and use of artificial intelligence as important strengths.
“The confidence Fido has placed in the UNCDF team when it comes to the level of infrastructure and technology we have built.”
Marvin Agyapong
UNCDF has previously highlighted Fido’s application of artificial intelligence and machine-learning technologies in areas such as document validation, fraud detection, vision-based know-your-customer processes and financial forecasting.
These technologies could allow digital lenders to serve underserved microenterprises more efficiently while improving the speed and quality of financial decisions.
Fido’s Head of Business Development, Philip Tsum, has also emphasised the importance of understanding customers and using those insights to improve financial products.
UN Expects Wider Financial Inclusion
UNCDF Technical Specialist for Digital Finance and Ecosystem, Maame Yaa Owusu-Amoah, said the GH¢1 million funding would support Fido’s efforts to expand financial inclusion and improve access to digital financial services.
“We are providing one million Ghana cedis to support this project, and our expectation is that it will help more people gain access to appropriate financial services while strengthening their financial literacy.”
Maame Yaa Owusu-Amoah
The wider programme is particularly significant given the importance of MSMEs to Ghana’s economy.
According to the UN, MSMEs account for approximately 92 percent of businesses in Ghana, provide nearly 80 percent of employment and contribute about 60 percent of the country’s GDP.
Despite this economic contribution, many women- and youth-owned businesses continue to face difficulties accessing affordable capital.
Fido Sets Sights on Thousands of Entrepreneurs
With implementation and scaling now taking centre stage, Fido expects its digital savings, credit and financial education solutions to reach more entrepreneurs across Ghana.
Mr Agyapong urged the public to engage with the company’s products, stressing that they were developed based on challenges identified directly by customers. “The public should watch out for us and engage in any Fido products because, hey, we developed it because of them.”
The GH¢1 million support therefore represents more than an injection of funding for Fido. It could mark a major expansion of efforts to bring women and young entrepreneurs into Ghana’s increasingly digital financial system.
As the UN-backed programme progresses, the focus will be on transforming digital innovation into practical opportunities for underserved businesses, while improving productivity, resilience and access to finance.
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