Zambia Credit Guarantee Scheme Limited (ZCGS) Chief Executive Officer, Ms. Mary Mumba has revealed that the company guaranteed over 40 Women led or owned MSMEs representing 54 percent of the total MSMEs guaranteed in 2022.
Speaking on the Eve of the International Women’s Day that falls on 8th March, 2023, Ms. Mumba expressed her delight at being able to facilitate access to finance for women that lacked adequate collateral when obtaining loans from commercial banks.
Ms. Mumba revealed that the Zambia Credit Guarantee Scheme has a deliberate policy of supporting at least 30 % women in all the credit guarantees it issues out. This is in line with Government’s mandate of reducing development inequalities.
She further thanked all the Partner financial Institutions (PFIs) that have developed loan products that are specifically designed for women in business and urged them to keep on relaxing their lending requirements as well as reducing lending rates especially towards women who proved that their businesses were viable.
Ms. Mumba pledged to increase the scheme’s support to more women especially those doing business in far flung areas away from the line of rail as these were the most marginalized. She also thanks Government for its confidence in the scheme by increasing the guarantee fund for 2023 to K150 million from K50 million in 2022. She therefore encouraged those PFIs that have not partnered with the scheme to do so that more women can be given access to finance.