- Asia has the highest proportion of female founders at 7.7%, followed closely by Africa at 7.4%, Europe at 6.5% and North America at 4.8%.
- Africa and the Middle East are the leading regions for the proportion of female CEOs.
Research by global fintech think tank Findexable shows that Africa has the highest proportion of female board members at nearly 15%.
The ‘Diversity for Growth Report’ examines the role that women play – or, rather, don’t play – in global fintech and how the industry can build more balanced, inclusive and representative businesses that are fit for the future.
The research, which comprises data from just over one thousand of the world’s best-funded privately owned fintech firms, revealed that of the 1,000 top-performing fintechs in the FDR1000 index, just 16 were founded solely by women. For context: 911 were founded by men, and there are only 68 female CEOs in total.
The research data released also reveals that women make up 11% of all board members and 19% of company executives. The majority of women (26%) in the sector are Chief People Officer or Head of HR, followed by Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Financial Officer.
Below are other regional highlights from the report:
- There are 2.5 times more women CEOs in the Middle East than in Europe and twice as many female chief technical officers in Africa versus the global average.
- Africa has the highest proportion of female board members, and with the Middle East, hosts the highest share of female CEOs
- Africa ranks second for the share of women-founded companies: the first of many hints that emerging economies have adopted a more considered approach to women and financial service providers.
- In Africa, Latin America and the Middle East, more than 10 per cent of female executives are in the top job.
- As for board members, Africa and Latin America are the regions where women-only boards account for more than two per cent of all companies (although from relatively small bases in each case). The highest percentage of women board members is also in Africa.
- In Latin America, Africa, and Asia-Pacific, companies founded solely by women secured higher median amounts of funding than their male-only counterparts and companies with mixed funding teams.
Simon Hardie, CEO and co-founder of findexable, says, “Global prosperity is more evenly distributed than at any point in history, yet our data shows the massive imbalance between men and women in innovative financial services firms. Fintech is a key enabler in the digital economy, and the sector plays an outsize role in reducing economic exclusion and powering digital transformation.”
Denise Gee, co-founder of findexable, says, “While the research paints a disappointing picture of fintech’s performance at building an industry that reflects the real world, this research should be viewed as a line in the sand. From today all of us – from the government to regulators, ecosystems and financial services firms of all sizes – need to ‘dig in’ (not lean in) to make the case and accelerate the progress of women and diverse teams.”
The report is the cornerstone of findexable’s ‘Fintech Diversity Radar,’ the world’s first global platform to accelerate diversity in fintech.
