Access to finance is one of the essential ingredients for any country to attain sustainable development and growth. This must be the reason behind government’s drive to promote financial literacy and universal access to financial services. Government targets to have at least 80 per cent of the Rwandan population to be within five kilometres of a financial institution.

Despite efforts by government and other stakeholders, some segments of the Rwandan population are still finding it hard to secure funding from banks and micro-finance institutions. Women are the main victims, thanks to cultural and other prejudices that hinder their access to funding or acquiring financial knowledge.

The fact that there are fewer women leaders in business means their voice is not heard or is ignored by financial institutions. Few women also have collateral to guarantee loans and neither do they have strong lobby groups to fight for their cause.

The proliferation of community-based SACCOs and cooperatives across the country hasn’t solved the situation either. But this implies that there are few winners; when banks deny women funds to start income-generating ventures, many Rwandans are affected. The opportunity for thousands of families to improve their standards of living is lost, too.

That’s why it is important for the financial sector leaders to develop ways for women to easily access funding without exposing themselves to bad loans. The good news is that studies have shown that women are the best borrowers. This should be a stimulus to facilitate women as part of efforts to support government’s drive toward financial inclusion in the medium-term.

Where need be, women should be given training opportunities to enhance their capacity to understand financial matters to carry out profitable enterprises. It is only through economic empowerment that women shall achieve total emancipation.