The economic empowerment of a woman is the economic empowerment of a family and the communities that make up a nation.

This powerful observation was shared with me by Ama Akuamoah, the Director of Market Engagement for the Digital Innovation Group at Opportunity International. I was able to connect with her while she was in Malawi, having recently visited some final-mile project locations there. We had a wonderful conversation over Zoom. She was relaxed, perhaps a bit tired being that it was the end of her (busy) day, and had a wonderful, attentive demeanor, and an infectious smile!

“At Opportunity International,” Ama said, “I have the unique role of building both internal and external partnerships to expand digital products and services to develop economic pathways out of poverty and improve the livelihoods of clients in various markets that we operate in Africa, also in India and Indonesia.”

Among its myriad of services, including work in agriculture and education finance, Opportunity International designs, develops, and deploys different digital products to support their hardest to reach clients. Using a human-centered design approach, their Digital Innovation Group has produced varying interventions to support savings groups, train banking agents, and connect farmers to critical information—including AI-based products and services.

Ama shares, “‘The future is here but it’s not evenly distributed,’ a quote from William Gibson, resounds loudly in our organization.” In Ama’s over a decade’s experience that spans 4 continents, she observed that “while we see how technologies are abounding in different parts of the world, it’s not evenly distributed in the places that we work in, especially at the last mile. We want to ensure that innovation is relevant, accessible, and affordable for people who live in the poorest communities across the world. We particularly focus on women who unfortunately are often excluded from the benefits of innovation.”

Ama continued, “These last-mile clients face significant barriers such as poor infrastructure, limited access to financial services, underdeveloped markets, and service economy and for women this is compounded by gender-related social norms that limit their agency and upward mobility in life. To be able to do this work means that I’m getting to support these women, and that’s very exciting for me.”

Read the full article about Ama Akuamoah at Global Washington.