The
National Association of Cooperative Credit Unions of The Gambia (NACCUG) on
Friday ended a four-day training of trainers on financial literacy and
graduation micro finance.
The
training held at Naccug head office along Bertil Harding Highway in Kanifing
targeted 20 participants from credit unions in North Bank Region, Brikama and
the Fonis. It was the second of such training for the same group; the first one
was held last year.
Baboucarr
Jeng, general manager of Naccug, said the training is a refresher course of the
20 trained last year.
“This
refresher training gave Naccug the opportunity to re-train those who have been
trained and also replace those trainers who have left for other jobs,” he said.
Mr
Jeng explained that the focus of the training is to further develop the skills
of the trainers on techniques to deliver financial literary and graduation
microfinance trainings.
“After
the training, their [the trainees] responsibility is to go back and deliver
training packages to women groups in the provinces,” he said.
The
training of trainers is part of a three-year project entitled ‘Improving Access
to Pro-poor Financial Services in The Gambia’ that Naccug is implementing with
the financial support of the Irish Aid through the Irish League of Credit Union
Foundation.
The
project, in the second year now, is geared towards improving the socio-economic
status of Gambian people, particularly rural women.
Naccug
GM said part of the activities of the project is to deliver financial literacy
and graduation micro finance (GMF) trainings to poor rural people, particularly
women.
Graduation
micro finance is basically working with the poorest people, those in very
remote areas who do not have the opportunity to safe or do not have the means
because of their poverty level.
Such
women are group together and through the project being implemented, Naccug
train them on basic literacy skills, financial skills, and income generating
activities.
Mr
Jeng said: “When we train these people,
we ask them to save at least few dalasi be it weekly or monthly. Then at the level of Naccug, when these
people safe, we take it to a credit union and facilitate a loan for them, which
would help them to generate some income.
This is the graduation micro finance model and it is working very well
in some parts of the country.
“So
GMF is basically working with the poorest of the poor and trying to help them
out through small loans while encouraging them to save.”
The
three-year project is currently being implemented in North Bank Region, Brikama
and the Fonis. There could be
possibility of rolling it out in other regions like the Upper River Region and
Central River Region in a follow up project.
At
the end of the project, Naccug hope to improve people’s life, capability to
save and borrow money and use it wisely.
