Financial Education and Entrepreneurship Development ,the Path to Women Economic Empowerment

Introduction

•About 60% of the Zimbabwean population live in the rural areas .•Women constitute a higher percentage of this rural population with very low levels of literacy (educational and financial)
•Majority of Zimbabweans are forced into SMEs and the informal sector due to many company closures and retrenchments.

•85% of MSME owners do not borrow from any financial institutions due to fear of failing to pay back. An estimated 24% of the country’s US$10,81 billion Gross Domestic Product (GDP) remains largely unbanked.(Source: Finscope Survey ( 2011,2013), World Bank Stakeholder Consultative Workshop (July, 2014).

Intelligent Business Consultancy has taken this disparity and has planned a Financial Education and Entrepreneurship Development Program for the women and the youths.

It has been trainedin February 2015 on Financial Education by Microfinance Opoortunities through its local partners and the plan is to train as many youths and adults especially women on savings, budgeting,remittances and a number of financial courses to empower the girl child and the women.This will reduce finacial illiteracy levels among the female population in the country.

Intelligent Business Consultancy has started training women vendors in its community on business management basics and for those groups trained , it gives them small business loans to enhance their vending business and this program is working well and to date about 8 woimen groups have been traineds and accessed some finance.

We strongly believe that our contribution will make an impact in the country by reducing financial illiteracy and empowering the women with business skills.