![[Rwanda] Fund bridges financial access for Rwanda women](New Faces Rwanda.jpg)
[Rwanda] Fund bridges financial access for Rwanda women
A pan African advocacy group is setting up a $200 million fund that will enable women access to finance while creating investment opportunities with a view to roping in more women into employment.
The group, known as The Rwandan Chapter of New Faces New Voices (NFNV) says the fund will start with $20 million, 25 per cent of which will be generated from shares women can buy in the fund at $1000 per share. Other capital will come from investors, donors, the government and other entities.
The chairwoman of the NFNV Rwandan chapter, Monique Nsanzabaganwa, said that the fund is expected to bridge the gap existing in women’s access to finance.
“We want to make a big impact on investment opportunities in Rwanda .We are still in the phase of planning for our financial institution, but by October we hope to be ready and start sensitization among our stakeholders,” she explained.
Research shows that women in Rwanda still face many challenges when trying to get credit, include the lack of adequate loan and project management skills, the lack of collateral, and low trust of financial institution to work with women.
Statistics from the National Bank even indicate that over the past 6 years, only 22.5% of the loans were given to women. New Faces New Voices’ Rwandan Chapter started a year ago with 18 women, and now has 1000 members.
NFNV was founded by Graca Machel in 2010 in partnership with the African Development Bank and other global institutions to change the financial status of women. It is active in 15 African countries.
