Govt to launch women’s bank

Melody Mashaire : Business Reporter

Government will soon launch a women’s bank that will provide financial support to small and medium enterprises run by women, a Cabinet minister has said. The Ministry of Women’s Affairs, Gender and Community Development in partnership with the International Trade Centre has started collecting data of women business associations and collective enterprises that exist in Zimbabwe with the exercise scheduled to end on August 20.The exercise is being undertaken as part of the European Union trade and private sector development programme assistance being implemented in Zimbabwe.

Minister of Woman Affairs, Gender and Community Development Nyasha Chikwinya said the bank would be opened after the establishment of the database of SMEs operated by women.

“What is even more exiting about this database is we will soon be opening the first women’s bank in Zimbabwe, we will then know who is doing what, not through a project proposal, but through a data base so that we do not have people that will tell us stories that I’m doing this and that .

“This is our fall-back position to identify woman in business and who is going to be assisted with funding.

“We are going to rope in several other partners and the International Trade Centre is going to lead the process,” she said.

She added that women owned and women managed enterprises and associations make a key contribution to Zimbabwe’s economy.

“In order to enable women’s enterprises to grow, become more competitive and fulfil their potential, greater financial and organisational support is needed,” she said.

Minister Chikwinya said the creation of a database is aimed at identifying existing business women’s associations, especially their number, geographic location, sectors they represent, objectives of their associations and key business constrains.

“The Ministry of Women Affairs, Gender and Community Development needs the collaboration of line Government ministries, intermediary organisations and development organisations in availing their valid databases of existing business women associations in Zimbabwe for collaboration into one comprehensive national data base,” she said.