Empowering Women in Fintech: Beyond Mentorship to Self-Determination
Step into any leadership summit or corporate roundtable, and you’ll hear a familiar mantra: “Mentor her. Sponsor her. Coach her.” These calls to action are well-intentioned and often effective. However, if we’re serious about advancing women in fintech, we must go further. The conversation must evolve from offering support to enabling self-determination.
The Shift from Opportunity to Agency
Empowerment, as it’s often framed, focuses on what organizations can do for women—how we open doors, create programs, and offer guidance. Whilevaluable, this approach can make progress feel passive. True empowerment isn’t something we give; it’s something women claim. That shift, from opportunity to agency, is where transformation begins.
The Triple Glass Ceiling in Fintech
This transformation is especially critical in fintech, a sector at the intersection of three traditionally male-dominated industries: finance, technology, and entrepreneurship. The result is what we call the triple glass ceiling. Breaking through it demands sustained cultural change, not just within the industry but also in the broader societal context.
Expanding Access and Rethinking Internal Culture
Fintech is expanding access to financial tools for underserved women across Africa, yet that same transformative energy isn’t always reflected inside the companies driving it. A rethinking is needed. Empowerment must go beyond mere representation; it’s not just about placing women in leadership roles or celebrating diversity metrics. It’s about creating environments where women feel confident to create their own opportunities, challenge norms, and lead from wherever they are.
Claiming Opportunities with Courage
You can’t wait for someone to hand you a title or a map. Empowerment is saying, “I might not have three years of experience, but I’ve got the aptitude and the will to try. Will you take a chance on me?” This kind of courage is lived every day by women navigating invisible barriers like bias in hiring, limited access to mentorship, and the “broken rung” that blocks early career progression. Agency means trusting women to make decisions, take risks, and shape the future of work.
The Role of Corporate Sponsorships
Support systems like corporate sponsorships can be powerful tools for advancement, but they must be approached with care. Despite good intentions, sponsorships can sometimes link someone’s success to their sponsor rather than their merit. The goal should be to help women build a brand so strong that it speaks for itself, independent of external validation.
Empowerment Beyond Executive Titles
Let’s also stop assuming empowerment is only for those aiming for executive titles. What about the woman who wants to shift from admin to tech? Or the one in operations who dreams of working in customer experience? Every woman deserves the tools, visibility, and encouragement to make that leap.
Mukuru’s Commitment to Empowerment
At Mukuru, we’ve invested over R1.6 million in technology-focused bursaries for women, alongside skills-based progression frameworks and inclusive hiring practices with diverse interview panels. Our “InspireHer” platform gives a voice to everyday role models, not just executives, creating a powerful peer-to-peer culture of aspiration and action. Our RISE leadership program complements InspireHer by supporting women (and men) at emerging, junior, middle, and senior levels across our global offices.
Embracing Diverse-ability
We chose the term “Diverse-ability” to reflect our belief that every individual brings something unique, and systems must be built to unlock that value. This includes race, ability, socio-economic background, language, and lived experience. Inclusion isn’t an initiative; it’s a guiding principle that shapes our organizational culture.
Addressing Internal Barriers
We must also acknowledge internal barriers. Women often step away from job opportunities because they don’t tick every box. Confidence and self-belief are career-shaping forces. That’s why we’ve embedded a simple but powerful message at the end of our job ads: “We know self-doubt can hold people back. If you think you can do the job, even if you don’t meet every requirement, we encourage you to apply.”
Cultivating a Sense of Belonging
Agency can only thrive in environments where people feel they belong. Companies must invest not just in skills but in safe, inclusive workplaces where women feel seen and heard. Belonging must be embedded in how we work, through flexible models, inclusive parental leave, asynchronous collaboration, coaching, and leadership rooted in psychological safety.
Measuring Engagement and Belonging
At our organization, 56% of our workforce is female, and 32% of these women are in decision-making roles. Our engagement scores and employee referrals continue to climb—all proof that when people feel like they belong, they bring others along. We measure belonging by asking: “Do our people feel they can speak up? Fail forward? Show up fully?” It’s one thing to hire diverse talent; it’s another to build the systems, feedback loops, and leadership capacity required for that talent to thrive.
The Ripple Effect of Empowerment
Let’s not underestimate the ripple effect. When women within fintech companies feel empowered, they become role models for better products aimed at women outside, especially in African markets, where access to financial services is challenging.
A Call to Women in Fintech
To every woman questioning her place in fintech: this space is waiting to be redefined by you. And the time is now.