Gov’t says more is needed to bridge financial inclusion gap

FINANCIAL inclusion remains a topical discussion particularly for the women in Zambia, Copperbelt Province Permanent Secretary Augustine Kasongo has said.

Mr Kasongo said despite having the high number of women, men were more financially included as compared to women.

He said government had realised the need for continuous collaboration particularly with the private sector to ensure that financial inclusion was mainstreamed in all sectors so that as many women as possible become financially literate and impowered.

Mr Kasongo was speaking when he officiated at the FnB breakfast for the Copperbelt female customers in celebration of the 1st anniversary of our women’s customer value proposition, H.E.R and Women’s Month in Kitwe.

“This will enable us to fight marginalisation among women and create sustainable empowerment initiatives.We shall continue as government continues to attach importance to women’s issues at it believes that when empowered, women can have the potential to significantly add value to society as the economy at be large,” Mr Kasongo said.

Mr Kasongo said government would continue making strides in creating gender-focused policies through the creation of the gender division which operated under the office of the President creating a more centralized focus.

And FnB Chief Executive Officer Bydon Longwe said help continued to be the banks constantly re-invest the same serving offer to its customers.

Mr Longwe said the bank’s vision was to create a better works by offering real help in communities it operated.

He added that despite being financially excluded, women were better savers than men.

“We are however proud to see the increasing number of women rising in different areas of life. We have seen women accounting for over 52 percent of the workforce at the bank,” Mr Longwe said.