Togo built a fully digital cash transfer programme serving over 12% of the population from scratch in just 10 days in response to COVID-19. The programme pays out more to women than to men and it has successfully reached out to vulnerable populations by doing some very non-digital things. We speak with Cina Lawson, Minister of Postal Affairs and Digital Economy in the Togo Government and Shegun Bakari, the senior adviser to the Togo President about Novissi, a fully digital cash transfer scheme aimed at workers in the informal sector.

Lawson has held her post since 2013. She was featured twice in Forbes’ top 20 “Youngest power women in Africa”. She received the Harvard Kennedy School Alumni Public Service Award last year and she is the first African woman political figure to receive the award.

This interview was recorded on June 9, 2020.