Bank on poor women and phones to drive growth in Africa, experts say

Mobile phone technology can help to bring financial services to the 80 percent of African women who do not have a bank account and bolster the growth of the world's poorest continent, Nigeria's finance minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, said on Monday.
Okonjo-Iweala was one of a dozen government, finance and business leaders who met in Nairobi on Monday to roll out a plan to bring financial services to more poor African women.
"It's not just about empowering women, it's about economic growth," said Okonjo-Iweala, honorary co-chair of the newly-formed Africa Advisory Council of the U.S.-based charity Women's World Banking.