By CASSEY KAYULA –
SWEDISH International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) and Financial Sector Deepening Zambia (FSD) have spent £2,541,000 on women’s financial inclusion programmes as at September 30, 2016.
FSD Zambia executive officer Betty Wilkinson said the goal of women’s financial inclusion was to improve the financial capabilities of women, increase the range of affordable, convenient and suitable financial services available to women and female small holder farmers.
She was speaking at the signing ceremony for an agreement for women’s financial inclusion in Lusaka yesterday.
“This is very important because women across Zambia are careful money managers who take advantage of increased access to financial services.
“They make little money go far, buy livestock for unexpected expenses and are careful not to borrow if repayment could be a problem,” she said.
She said FSDZ had two projects within the WIN that would focus on supporting local partners to provide financial education and financial services to women.
Ms Wilkinson said the projects would focus on sustainable improvements in the information and financial services that women and youths have available to them that way they have control over use of their money.
“Our implementing partner catholic relief services will promote, purpose -built financial products.
The objective of CRS education finance intervention is to encourage the formal sector to provide accessible and affordable services, to enable low-income women to pay for school fees to educate their children,” Ms Wilkinson said.