Empower more rural women - CCPC

PLAYERS in the financial sector can assist in saving the informal sector during the Covid-19 period by improving chances of rural women in accessing the Covid-19 relief which will support their businesses.

This is according to the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) Executive Director, Chilufya Sampa.

The Bank of Zambia in April this year availed a K10 billion stimulus package to help businesses affected by the pandemic.

Mr Sampa warned that data from the FinScope which showed that nearly half of women in Zambia were financially excluded could distort the market and cripple an important part of the economy, the informal sector.

Mr Sampa said financial inclusion among rural women could save the informal sector.

He however observed that this called for an increase in the rate at which financial players brought on board women in rural areas to promote maximum inclusivity in the distribution of Covid-19 relief packages

Mr Sampa stressed that women in rural areas faced serious hurdles in accessing Covid-19 relief support for their businesses because they lacked access to formal financial services.

He was speaking during an episode of the Stanbic Anakazi Banking online conversations.

“What has come through from the women market is that in rural Zambia, women typically run microbusinesses that help support their families. However, most of these women remain financially excluded.

“As a result, it becomes nearly impossible for them to access relief packages that are available to other entrepreneurs in urban areas,” Mr Sampa said.

CCPC, Mr Sampa said, would work with various stakeholders to ensure that as many women as possible had accessed to financial services.

He said this would enable them not get by passed by the various interventions being put in place to help businesses navigate through the outbreak.

“We have been working with the Rural Financial Extension Programme (RUFEP) in trying to raise awareness of the importance of financial inclusion among women in rural areas to help change the narrative.

“We are engaging banks and mobile money providers in this quest,” Mr Sampa said.