By Tiwonge Kampondeni:
The Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) has partnered with the country’s media houses in an effort to promote access to financial services through a US$86 million Financial Inclusion and Entrepreneurship Scaling (FInES) Project.
FinES, a Government of Malawi project, which is being implemented by the RBM, aims at increasing access to financial services, promoting entrepreneurship and capabilities of Micro Small and Medium Enterprises in Malawi.
Speaking Wednesday in Mzuzu during a media orientation on the project, FInES Project Manager, Dr Mark Lungu said the media is key in popularising the project for the benefit of the targeted stakeholders and the country as a whole.
“We realise the important role that the media can play in creating awareness and advocating for positive change from project beneficiaries.
“They are experts in information dissemination and we are partnering with them so that they take the information about FInES to the public,” Lungu said.
The five-year project which is run with a loan from World Bank started in 2021 and targets 40 and 20 percent of women and youth respectively as beneficiaries.
Speaking on behalf of the media, Times Group Northern Region Bureau Chief, Feston Malekezo said the orientation has helped to bridge knowledge gap about the project.
“As media, we are ready to work with the Central Bank in promoting access to financial services and addressing general financial literacy issues through information sharing with the masses,” Malekezo said.
The Central Bank is working with different participating financial institutions (PFIs) in implementing the project.
Some of the PFIs include NBM Development Bank Limited, Malawi Agricultural and Industrial Investment Corporation, NBS Bank, Centenary Bank, Standard Bank, Comsip Limited, National Economic Empowerment Fund (NEEF) Limited, Microloan Foundation Limited, Saile Financial Services Limited, FINCA Malawi, Wealthnet Finance, CUMO and Vision Fund.
