Women’s bank on the cards

Lungile Tshuma Business Correspondent
A WOMEN’S Bank, an institution that will be availing funds to empower women, will start assisting women next year as the Treasury pledges to release seed capital, amid indications that other organisations are keen to pour in more money to capacitate the bank. Gender activists have been arguing that women should be financially empowered so that they can be independent and fight gender-based violence.

Presenting his 2016 budget, Finance and Economic Development Minister Patrick Chinamasa allocated $5 million as seed capital for the Women’s Bank which should have been set up last year.

“The budget thrust is on, carrying forward the various women empowerment projects and programmes in line with the above requirement as well as the Zim Asset objectives on value addition and poverty eradication,” said Minister Chinamasa.

“Fiscal constraints had a drawback on the speedy establishment of the women’s bank as envisaged. This undermined funding of various planned women empowerment projects. Budget is allocating a further $5 million to advance implementation of this project.”

In a telephone interview, Women Affairs, Gender and Community Development Minister Nyasha Chikwinya said her ministry appreciates efforts being made by Treasury to empower women. She said the ministry has received and will continue receiving support from other development partners in its quest to empower women. Said Minister Chikwinya: “Modalities for the setting up of the bank are at an advanced stage.

The allocation by the minister will go a long way in setting up the bank and the money which we were allocated by the minister is seed capital. As the ministry we need $10 million but we appreciate what the Minister did. We have a lot of women who need to be empowered but these funds will mainly focus or we will give first preference to women in rural areas because they are usually shunned by banks, as they said not have collateral.

“We want to prove to the entire world that rural women are productive and can use the funds effectively. We are who we are because of our parents, especially mothers. They used to keep the little money they could have made make from selling tomatoes.”

Minister Chikwinya added that the ministry is confident that by beginning of the year, the bank will be operational. She said other funds which the ministry needs to capacitate the bank will come from other development partners who have pledged to assist the country in empowering women.

“The other $5 million which we need will come from our partners. We have partners world over who have shown interest in partnering us in setting up the bank and with that I am rest assured and confident that women will start accessing funds next year,” she said.
Minister Chikwinya said projects to be funded will be on tourism, agro-processing, agriculture, mining and other value addition projects.