Bridget Eze

Pioneered financial inclusion for African women through digital banking innovation

Bridget Eze is a Nigerian fintech innovator whose work has revolutionized access to financial services for women across sub-Saharan Africa. In 2021, she launched Women's Trust Bank, the first pan-African digital bank designed specifically to serve female entrepreneurs and marginalized communities. Leveraging blockchain technology and mobile banking infrastructure, her platform has enabled over 2 million women to secure loans, manage savings, and participate in global supply chains previously inaccessible to them.

Through partnerships with organizations like UN Women and the African Development Bank, Eze's initiatives have created ripple effects across multiple economies. Her 2023 TED Talk "How African Women Are Rewriting the Rules of Finance" highlighted how her bank's microfinance solutions reduced gender-based economic disparities by 40% in pilot regions. Eze's 2024 book 《Financing the Future: Women's Economic Empowerment in the Digital Age》 has become a foundational text for global development experts.

Her work intersects with emerging technologies like AI-driven credit scoring systems, which assess borrowers through non-traditional metrics like community trust networks. This approach has enabled women without formal credit histories to access capital for small businesses. In 2025, Eze's innovations were recognized with the World Finance Innovation Prize, cementing her role as a transformative figure in financial inclusion.