Strengthening Women’s Financial Inclusion
Alan Moore, CEO, and Joan Jennings, Board member, recently visited Ethiopia and Rwanda as part of the Women’s Financial & Economic Empowerment (WFEE) project.
During their visit to Ethiopia, they met with Getnet Tadesse, Chief Commissioner, and Abdi Mumed, Deputy Commissioner, of the Ethiopian Cooperative Commission (ECC), and signed a Memorandum of Understanding to strengthen the framework of cooperation between the two institutions. The agreement enables rural financial savings and loan cooperatives to implement projects to strengthen the regulatory and supervisory system, enhance the financial and economic capacity of women, and expand gender roles in rural development, under the WFEE project.
Speaking about the WFEE project, Alan Moore said, “We are delighted and grateful to be part of this important initiative. Credit unions play an important role in their communities by providing access to secure savings and affordable loans, and this project will support women in rural communities in Ethiopia to be financially included.”
While in Addis Ababa, they also met with Olivia Leslie, the Ambassador of Ireland to Ethiopia, and Embassy staff Fergal Ryan and Fletch Williams. Discussions focused on the WFEE project and the important role the Savings and Credit Cooperatives Organisations (SACCOs) play in Ethiopia in advancing greater financial inclusion, particularly for women and rural communities.
In Rwanda, Alan and Joan, alongside Celestin Gatera, In-Country Technical Advisor, met with several key stakeholders to review progress and strengthen partnerships under the WFEE project. Meetings included Kwikiriza Jackson, Executive Director of the Association of Microfinance Rwanda (AMIR), where discussions centred on establishing a partnership framework to support the effective implementation of the WFEE for Gender-Transformative Rural Development project and to further strengthen and develop SACCOs.
During their time in Rwanda, they also met with Dagamawi Habte-Selassie, Country Director of International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and visited the Gasabo District SACCO in Kigali to see first-hand the impact of cooperative financial services at the community level.
The WFEE project aims to enhance women’s financial inclusion in three East African countries: Ethiopia, Rwanda, and Tanzania, ensuring that women have access to affordable financial services. The Foundation is responsible for the project’s rural finance technical assistance component, which aims to improve access to financial services for smallholder households. It aims to help women diversify their income-generating activities and play a greater role in their local economies by building capacity to promote an inclusive, modern, and sustainable rural financial sector.