Savings Groups and Financial Education
Raising women’s social and economic skills to end inequality and poverty through education and entrepreneurial development
Building knowledge and skills
Savings groups and financial education specifically focuses on building knowledge and skills in business development through a community savings group formation for members. As a result, women are now gaining financial independence, having more autonomy to manage their lives, and are participating in household decision-making, as well as community politics and leadership.
Savings groups meet on a regular basis and save small amounts of money per person into a larger account which can be borrowed as a loan with interest to establish businesses or to develop the community further, such as building a tap to access clean water more easily. Each group is managed internally with constitutions, bylaws and annual audits, and are open to all religions, ages, gender or tribe.
“...In Tanzania, savings group participants have started different businesses such as cafes, making and selling mandazi.”
The future of change
As women become more financially literate, they can start to develop income-generating activities and enterprises, becoming more independent and contributing to household income allowing for children to have better access to education as a result. As well as financial benefits, participants start to see cultural change and as a result can do more to support their communities and themselves. The skills learnt and businesses formed stay within the communities and are passed on to family and other community members.
Other global programmes
