‘Empowered’ women key to economic growth

Thu, 23 Mar 2017 10:15:12 +0000

BY MAILESI BANDA

Ms. Kachumi said the highest potential of business growth and development could be found in remote areas of the country.

Speaking in an interview with the Daily Nation, she said rural women had the potential to contribute to the economic growth of the country if they were given enough knowledge and financial support.

She appealed to money lending institutions to help women access loans and financial services to expand their businesses.

“The highest potential of successful business could actually take place in rural areas; women from this part of the country once given the knowledge and the financial support could have big businesses,’’ she said.

She explained that women-led enterprises had the challenge of limited access to financial services and that this made women fail to have assets and expand their businesses.

She advised women to venture into non-traditional businesses to attract funders to their projects.

“There is need to partner with women as most of them are shielded from accessing other financial services; hence we have decided to introduce women to businesses that offer real solutions like construction and green jobs,’’ she said.

She said business diversification would attract financial solutions to the challenges of funding that have dogged most women in business.

She advised banks to provide attractive packages for women to help empower them into expanding their businesses.

She stated that it was more profitable to invest in sectors that were more lucrative and more profitable like mining and farming.

She said the time for men alone to lead in business had long gone, adding that women were now equal partners in economic development.