• Suheyili Reshid Juneyidi
• Dr. Harpreet Kaur

Financial inclusion is big challenge regardless of gender, and efforts are required to address it for the entire population. The global gender gap is very persistent, that means still the majority of women in the worldwide are financially excluded, and gaps remain very large. Whereas financial inclusion is an important goal in itself, new evidence suggests that greater inclusion of women as users of financial services has generally positive economic outcomes as well. Greater access to and usage of accounts for financial transactions, savings, credit and insurance can help increase long term economic growth. When women are included in the financial system, there is a significant benefit in terms of economic growth, greater equality and societal well-being. However, despite significant advances in financial inclusion for both men and women, women still lag behind men in access and usage of financial products and services. Women still are less likely to have an account than men. Globally, 65 percent of women and 72 percent of men have an account, and currently the gender gap stands at 7% (World Bank Global Financial Inclusion Findex, 2017). However, Ethiopia falls far behind global with a gap of 12 percent. The majorities of women in Ethiopia workforce are agriculture, service sectors and micro, small and medium enterprises and face exclusion from the formal financial services. As such, the financial exclusion of women is a large barrier to the financial stability and economic growth of Ethiopia. This paper documents and analyzes gender gap in the use of financial services in account ownership, saving, credit, payment, insurance, mobile banking, financial literacy, financial awareness etc. and barriers to use these financial services in Ethiopia. The data were drawn from National Bank of Ethiopia, Central Statistical agency, Global Findex which prepared by World Bank and primary data which collected from sample women.

Financial Inclusion, Gender, Equality

"Financial Inclusion and Gender Equality in Ethiopia", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.6, Issue 2, page no.494-505, February-2019, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1902380.pdf

"Financial Inclusion and Gender Equality in Ethiopia", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.6, Issue 2, page no. pp494-505, February-2019, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1902380.pdf