What would happen if more people in the informal economy had access to the tools they needed to earn a stable income? The answer, is not merely individual benefit. It is an economic transformation.
Today, millions of people rely on motorcycles, tuk-tuks and smartphones to participate in the fast-growing digital and service economies. These assets enable transportation of people and goods, facilitate payments and logistics, and connect entrepreneurs to customers, suppliers and opportunities.
Yet for a very long time, access to such assets was limited to those who could meet strict, formal credit requirements. These criteria excluded the majority of working people. Entrepreneurship in these markets is rarely optional. It is how families pay school fees, build houses and support communities. It is work rooted not in risk, but in resilience.
It is clear that owning an income-generating asset, such as a motorcycle or smartphone can provide a more powerful and immediate uplift in earnings, compared to receiving a small loan.
In both mobility and connectivity, the principle remains the same: access to the right tools unlocks the ability to earn, to plan and to progress.
But scale has also brought lessons. Financial inclusion is only meaningful when the outcomes are positive and enduring. The broader economic landscape is shifting, too. Across Africa and emerging markets globally, three transitions are redefining how people work and move.
First, the transportation sector is gradually electrifying. Electric two-wheelers and three-wheelers offer lower operating costs, more predictable margins and environmental benefits, provided they are supported with the right infrastructure and financing models.
Second, payments are becoming increasingly digital. Mobile money ecosystems are not only facilitating transactions. They are generating valuable economic visibility and creating credit pathways where none existed before.
Third, informal work is gaining structure. Through technology, gig platforms and digital identity, workers who were once invisible to financial systems are becoming legible and therefore financeable.
These transitions represent a fundamental shift in how economic participation operates. They come with a clear challenge: systems must keep pace with the speed of the people who rely on them.
Looking ahead to the next decade, the focus must therefore move from broadening access to accelerating upward mobility.
The questions we now ask ourselves include: How do we help customers advance from their first asset to their second, and eventually toward business expansion? How do we use data to help them anticipate income shocks before they occur?
How do we collaborate with regulators, manufacturers and development partners to ensure that new technologies, such as electric mobility, translate into real economic benefits?
These are not abstract concerns. They represent the next frontier of financial inclusion, where access is paired with long-term capability and where short-term opportunity evolves into sustainable progress.