Reliance
Financial Services, last Thursday signed a 50 million dalasi loan fund with
Senegalo Gambian Women Federation (SGWF) at the Federation’s headquarters in
Kanifing.
The
fund is geared towards empowering women through financial support.
The
federation consists of about three thousand members who work in different
sectors such as poultry, fisheries and food processing.
At
the signing ceremony, Federation president Ndey Awa Khan said their main
objective is to empower each other to be on the same level, saying their
members are engaged in different businesses to raise their standards.
She
said Reliance Financial Services is created to empower women of The Gambia,
noting that other Banks would ask for collaterals, but reliance is always
willing and ready to partner with all those that cannot provide collaterals.
According
to Mrs. Khan, the 50 million dalasi allocated to the federation and would be
managed by Reliance. She advised members to use the loan for its intended
purpose, emphasizing that the money is a loan that should be repaid.
She
thanked the institution for rendering help to the federation, saying, “Business
is capital and without capital you cannot do business.”
Momodou
Joof, Reliance Financial Services head of operations said their institution has
reached a membership size of over 35,000 women who are jointly borrowing over
50 million dalasis every six months, with a repayment rate of 98%. “Our women
are not only borrowing and repaying on time but they are able to establish a
very good savings culture,” he said.
He
said 50 million dalasis fund is not a loan to the federation neither is it a
fund that the federation will manage directly. “The federation will set up an
internal loan committee through which all the registered members who wish to
access financing support from reliance will send their applications to,” he
noted.
He
explained the process and procedures the members would need to take in order to
be granted the loan, saying that the loan will vary from member to member,
based on capacity need. It would also vary from member to member based on the
activities being financed.
Sarjo
Faye, Reliance Financial Services chief finance officer said the partnership
between the federation and Reliance Financial Services will go beyond six
months. “We want the 50 million dalasi to go beyond ten years because we don’t
want to withdraw anything from the fund. We want to make sure that the fund is
given to each and every woman through the federation in order to improve their
lives,” she said.
She
said the Reliance is working with the federation to introduce capacity
building, training programs, financial literacy program to help them in loan
monitoring among others.
She
urged the members to use the money wisely and thanked the executives of the
federation for their hard work.
