'Women's Bank opening long overdue'

Published: 14 May 2018

THE opening of the Women's Bank is long overdue, Women Affairs Minister, Sithembiso Nyoni, has said.

In an interview the minister said she hoped the processes towards opening the new bank, which is aimed at capacitating women entrepreneurs, would be fast tracked to quicken business development and economic growth.

The idea of a Women's Bank was mooted some years back but is yet to be realised, having missed numerous proposed deadlines. The proposed bank is expected to provide financial support to women and small to medium enterprises.

Last month, RBZ announced that it was in the process of inspecting the bank's structures and other outstanding issues pending its opening.

"The opening of this bank is long overdue and it's going to be a good thing.

"Many women are waiting for this bank and we really hope that it's going to start operating soon," said Minister Nyoni.

"RBZ officials wrote to the Women's Bank alerting them that they will assess them from 9 to 11 May 2018.

"We haven't had the outcome of the assessment but we are waiting to hear further developments."

The bank is one of the measures put in place by Government to empower women by ensuring that they access business funding at concessionary rates.

Of the $10 million allocated to the bank by Treasury, $5 million will cater for administrative issues while $2.5 million will go towards ICT systems and branches' network. The remaining $2.5 million is for on-lending.

Women have often complained of being marginalised when it comes to accessing loans for various projects as the institutions demand collateral security upfront. The country has more than 25 banking institutions.

Most women in Zimbabwe have assets registered in the names of their spouses, a situation that limits their capacity to access loans from financial institutions.

It is hoped that once operational, the Women's Bank will avail funding to women in the informal sector at concessionary lending rates and less stringent requirements.
- chronicle

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