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Nelson Gahadza, Senior Business Reporter
The Government says it is working on a guarantee for loans secured from the women’s bank to improve access to capital for women.
This follows the establishment of the Zimbabwe Women’s Microfinance Bank (ZWMB), a deposit-taking microfinance institution that provides access to affordable and innovative women-centred financial products and services.
Finance, Economic Development, and Investment Promotion Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube, speaking at a women’s entrepreneur conference in Harare on Thursday, said the Government had been supporting the bank through allocations from the budget, but needed to do more.
“Evidence shows that women are good borrowers; they pay back on time and service their loans, so non-performing loans on women entrepreneurs are quite low, and it means we should do more as a Government.
“We already have a Women’s Bank, and every year we continue to allocate funds through the budget, but we want to do more,” he said.
The conference, which ran under the theme ‘Women for Prosperity: Empower Your Entrepreneurial Journey,” coincided with the launch of a report by the Atlantic Council, an American think tank, on how Zimbabwe can achieve its vision of prosperity, focussing on foreign direct investment and women’s economic freedom.
Minister Ncube said the bank was also working on a prescribed asset status so that it could partner with other investors, such as insurance companies and pension funds, to support the capital base of the bank.
“The Government’s intention is to remove the idea of collateral, which is one of the main issues that pushes women out of the borrowing market. When we remove that requirement for certain categories, it has to improve access to capital for women,” he said.
Apart from facilitating financing,through the finance ministry, the Government was also mentoring women to come up with bankable projects and become entrepreneurs.
“We run programmes through the ministry and the bank. But more needs to be done, but we are glad Zimbabwe ranks well above the global and African levels in terms of women’s empowerment and women’s issues,” he said.
Minister Ncube added, “This is encouraging, but that does not mean we have to stop, (we have to) continue; after all, when you have empowered a woman, you have empowered a nation.”
According to the report, Zimbabwe ranks 5th in terms of women’s economic freedom out of 46 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Globally, the country ranks 56 out of 164 countries, and the report noted that the country’s women’s economic freedom score exceeded global and regional averages from 1995 to 2003.
According to the report, central to Zimbabwe Vision 2030 is the establishment of an open, efficient, and effective business environment that promotes entrepreneurship and attracts greater foreign direct investment.
However, Minister Ncube said the Government remained committed to improving the investment climate, which is key for economic development.
Mr Kenneth Sharpe, real estate firm West Properties chief executive officer, said the Government should play a facilitatory role and create an enabling environment for the private sector to invest.
He noted that women were the backbone of the economy, as statistics show that 70 percent of small to medium enterprises (SMEs) were run by women.
“The growth that you can have in the economy comes from the SME sector. This means women in Zimbabwe can provide the platform for the growth of the economy,” he said.
He added that the positive index showing positive light for Zimbabwe at number 5 in Sub-Saharan Africa in terms of women’s prosperity and economic freedoms above the global average shows they can do more for the economy.
Online Reporter