S3 EP1 - What's The True Cost of Digital Finance with Willie Blackmon (IPA) and Francis Annan (UC Berkeley)

Financial Inclusion Unlocked · Aug 10, 2026 · 41m

Digital financial services have been one of the most significant development stories of the last two decades. Across sub-Saharan Africa and beyond, DFS has extended financial access to hundreds of millions of people, enabling remittances, savings, small business payments, and emergency transfers in ways that were simply impossible before. But scale brings scrutiny. As adoption deepens and DFS reaches communities with lower digital literacy, less price awareness, and fewer alternatives, the question of what people are actually paying becomes more urgent, not less.

In this episode, we sit down…