FDH opens loan window for female-run ventures
FDH Bank plc has created a special fund aimed at empowering and promoting women to fulfil their full business potential by providing access to working capital.
Dubbed FDH AmayiAtakate Fund, the facility is pegged at K0.5 billion and would be used as a revolving fund to support women-owned micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) realise their full potential.
In a statement, FDH Group Head of Marketing and Communication Levie Nkunika says the bank is complementing the government’s efforts in contributing to the growth of businesses.
“An FDH AmayiAtakate Loan — is a special loan facility under the fund designed to address access to affordable credit and lack of working capital women owned MSMEs face in their day to day running of their businesses.
“The loan will be unsecured and will be up to a maximum of K5 million per applicant with a flexible repayment period of two years with affordable interest rates,” Mkunika says.
The statement says the facility will be accessible by women across the country using the bank’s branch network.
According to the statement, informed by the aspirations of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, the Africa’s Agenda 2063 and Malawi’s Vision 2063, FDH Bank plc believes that women — owned MSMEs in Malawi should be empowered and promoted to nurture and grow their businesses and in turn they will significantly contribute towards the creation of a prosperous and sustainable society.
With an estimated female population of 51.5 percent, Malawi has over 558,090 women-owned MSMEs according to a 2019 Finscope Survey, 2019.
Most of them are facing difficulties to access formal credit due to collateral demands and working capital challenges to enable business expansion. This presents a huge unserved market.
