Andrew Muvishi
Mash East Correspondent
A WOMEN – LED savings and credit cooperative based in Murewa, Mashonaland East, is seeking US$5 million from the Government to establish a national revolving asset financing facility aimed at economically empowering liberation war veterans.
The Zimbabwe Female Entrepreneurs Savings and Credit Cooperative (ZIMFETE SACCO), which began as a village banking initiative, has opened its membership to veterans following growing demand for loans to acquire productive assets.
Registered in September 2025, the cooperative has submitted its proposal through the Ministry of Veterans of the Liberation Struggle Affairs to the Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency (ZIDA) for technical assessment and possible treasury funding.
ZIMFETE director, Mr Fungai Mahamadi, said the initiative was inspired by veterans who expressed a preference for productive assets rather than cash handouts.
“These proposals came from veterans themselves, not from us. We only do assessments before approval,” he said.
“We adopted a policy that for a veteran to qualify, he must show commitment by contributing a third to half of the total asset value.”
Mr Mahamadi said beneficiaries were accessing financing for various projects, including borehole drilling, livestock production, irrigation equipment, housing construction, poultry farming, mining equipment and solar installations.
He said encouraging loan repayment performance had prompted the cooperative to seek additional funding to expand its operations nationwide.
“These proposals came from veterans themselves, not from us. We only do assessments before approval,” he said.
“We adopted a policy that for a veteran to qualify, he/she must show commitment by contributing a third to half of the total asset value.”
He said beneficiaries were accessing financing for borehole drilling, livestock production, irrigation equipment, housing construction, poultry projects, mining equipment and solar installations.
Mr Mahamadi said encouraging loan repayment performance had prompted the cooperative to seek additional funding to expand its operations nationally.
“What compelled us to seek US$5 million is the overwhelming response we got when we introduced the programme and our experience with their loan repayment ability,” he said.
ZIMFETE national chairperson, Mrs Josephine Gandiya, said the cooperative had continued financing veterans using internally generated resources while awaiting Government support.
“We did not wait for ZIDA approval of the US$5 million request. Using our own funds originating from savings, assets and circulating funds from loan repayments, we have continued financing veterans’ asset loans,” she said.
The cooperative said its members had resolved to transform the initiative into a National Veterans SACCO, with veterans participating in governance structures from ward to national level.
The proposed revolving facility would be secured through pension stop-orders, group guarantees and financed assets.
ZIMFETE said the programme was expanding beyond Mashonaland East, targeting veterans across Zimbabwe’s 10 provinces.
