Harare, Zimbabwe (News of the South)-Nyasha Chikwinya Zimbabwe’s Women Affairs Gender and Community Development Minister recently told a gathered group of women that the country is set to have its first women’s bank.
The audience comprised of high achievers and ground-breakers who were receiving merit awards from some UN organizational arm called Heritage something.
In the audience were renowned television personality Rebecca Chisamba, Pastor and singer Bonnie Deuschle, Florence Kanyati another pastor, a former Miss Zimbabwe Busi Dube, Defence Minister Sydney Sekeremayi’s wife Tsitsi, Daily News COO and countless others.
“Before the year ends we shall be having the first women’s bank in the country”, she told the crowd that responded with warm applause.
Chikwinya explained the demographics that justify such a move.
“70% of Zimbabwean women live in the rural areas and of the total population 53% are women whilst men make up the other 47%. Thus we cannot have 53% wanting to be fed and idle”, she said.
In 2015 a gathering of determined women assembled in Harare Gardens for another address from her.
They consisted of aspiring miners, farmers, traders and businesswomen.
She told them the same message.
“The country’s economy is in a bad situation but we hope that won’t derail this initiative (of having a women’s bank) as it will help women start their businesses”.
“However we want women who will be able to repay the loans they will have taken so that others can benefit from the same fund”, she said.
Chikwinya predicted that the economy will continue to grow.
“Investors having been flooding the country from Russia and China, and the economy is going to grow”.
She said it was high time that those with farms utilized them fully.
“Agriculture is the mainstay of the economy and if it does not do well the whole economy suffers”.
“Thus those who have farms should not under-utilize them and it would be better to sub-divide them if they are large and share them between more people”, she said.
The assembled women loved that.
As the country’s economic position continues to deteriorate its becoming harder by the day to believe if the Minister is sincere in her statements and whether the bank is really coming or not.
Politicians have a penchant for saying the appropriate things at any given time and Chikwinya seems to have found hers, telling women across the country what they wish to hear.
The reality is however different and it’s very real that no women’s bank is coming after all the applause.
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