This article was written by Freda Tamba, Director of Financial Conduct Supervision at Bank of Zambia. The original article was published by afi Global. You can find the article here.
Women’s entrepreneurship spells good news for society. It breaks down deeply rooted perceptions of women as homemakers and brings fresh perspectives, ideas and products to the market. It creates employment in local communities and plays a major role in poverty alleviation.
At the Bank of Zambia, this realization has changed the way we think about women’s economic participation. If we want to have thriving communities and innovative economies, we need to support Women-led MSMEs (WMSMEs). Here’s how we’ve done it: |
And the results are encouraging. Today, over 60% of Zambia’s MSMEs are led by women. We’ve also seen that the percentage of the total loan value represented by women’s loans has increased from 18 percent in 2020 to 23 percent in 2023. Financial service providers have set up women’s desks, selling products specifically tailored for their women clientele’s needs. And the financial inclusion gender gap is narrowing, currently standing at less than 3%.
A lot of work still needs to be done. Socio-cultural barriers and a lack of financial literacy continue to jeopardize women’s business success in Zambia. But despite these challenges, we’ve come a long way, and we can finally say that Zambia’s women business owners are making headway.
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