Zambia

geo/zambia

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Cracking the nut 2015 - Expanding rural and agricultural markets amid climate change

AZMJ is pleased to announce the 2015 Cracking the Nut conference to take place in Lusaka, Zambia on March 2-3, 2015. The two-day learning event will highlight innovations in the development of rural and agricultural markets and financial inclusion, amid global climate change. The conference will bring together top industry leaders from food companies, financial institutions, investors, donors, governments and international development organizations.

The Conference will showcase competitively selected best practices through focused themes:

African Women’s Economic Summit

The theme of the 3rd African Women’s Economic Summit is: “African Women Realising Africa’s Economic Potential”. Organized by New Faces New Voices and the African Development Bank, this biennial event brings together key stakeholders in the financial sector throughout the continent, as well as influential global leaders, to look at how to put women at the centre-stage of the African finance and economic development agenda to realize Africa’s potential.

Zambia: Make Women's Bank a Reality

THE mooted commercial bank for women in the country is a step in the right direction which will help contribute towards raising financial empowerment among the women in Zambia.

This innovative move will, surely, help augment the banked segment of the citizens which is currently undersized and is made up of even fewer women than men.

Further, it will definitely help to meet the key objective of providing financing for women entrepreneurs and small businesses.

Zambia: Women's Bank will Boost Financial Inclusion - Kankasa-Mabula

Zambian Central Bank Deputy Governor Dr. Tukiya Kankasa-Mabula notes that the creation of a women's bank is an initiative that will boost financial inclusion. In an interview in Lusaka, Kankasa-Mabula revealed that an initiative to establish a women's bank was being developed and driven by private sector Zambian businesswomen, and was intended to cater to the banking needs of women who face financial exclusion and have little or no access to finance. She said the bank's key objectives would be the provision of financing for women entrepreneurs and small businesses.

Snapshot of Financial Services Sector and Accessibility in Zambia (2003 -2010)

Using data from Bank of Zambia reports, the following graphs provide some interesting insight relating to the degree of financial deepening in Zambia. Between 2009 and 2010, accessibility to, and use of mobile phone banking doubled in size and by far outperformed other technical infrastructure. This trend mimics the popularity of the varied use of mobile phones in Sub-Sahara Africa. There is still potential for growth of internet banking. The numbers point to opportunities in telecommunications development that are much needed in Zambia. ATMs and Point-of Sale (POS), perhaps owing to associated transaction fees pare in comparison to use of mobile banking and internet banking.

Do Women-led Small and Growing Businesses Have Equal Access to Finance as Men-Led Businesses in Zambia?

I recently provided a supply side snapshot of financial services in Zambia. This piece presents the demand side view as a follow up to what will eventually become a series of descriptive statistics and facts about the financial services sector in Zambia. The series will also address financial challenges and opportunities for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) operating in both the formal and informal sectors and across gender lines.

How can governement promote financial inclusion for women: the Zambian case

Zambia, like many other developing countries, has a vast number of people, potential entrepreneurs, small enterprises and others, who are excluded from the financial sector. Those with access are often exploited by high costs/fees.
To address this anomaly, increasing access to a greater number of the population in Zambia has become one of government’s priority areas in recent years.

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