Women’s saving groups share over N155m from contributions in Bauchi
By Ahmed Ahmed
Women’s Saving groups under the Village Savings and Loan Association (VSLA) in Bauchi State have saved and shared N155,568,360 contributed in five years from four local government areas of the state.
Mrs. Monica Tanko, the programme manager of the implementing NGO, RAHAMA Women Development, said this in an interview with Journalists on Tuesday in Bauchi.
She said the success was achieved between 2019 and 2023, saying the money contributed by the women’s group had played a pivotal role in transforming their lives and communities.
“The VSL programme when started led to the formation of 43 groups, each comprising 25 women.
“These groups saved, loaned, and shared an impressive sum of N155, 568,360 which reflects the positive outcomes through targeted and community-focused interventions.
“The project was spanning across four Local Government Areas of Bogoro, Tafawa Balewa, Toro, and Kirfi, it has become a beacon of change,” she said.
Tanko explained that the initiative, the Women Voice and Leadership Nigeria project (WVL-N) was supported by ActionAid Nigeria (ANN) funded by Global Affairs Canada (GAC), launched in 2019.
According to her, the initiative taken by the women’s group to create savings groups represents a huge step toward women’s empowerment and the fight against poverty.
“The VSLA seeks to harness resources within the community for productivity-enhancing climate-adapted crop technologies and for mitigating cash flow and household economic constraints.
“It is also an important intervention toward the financial inclusion of women in the rural areas,” She said.
A beneficiary, Mrs Hannatu Anap, a widow from the Toro community, told NAN that after the share-out, she took a significant step to boost her household income by constructing a chicken pen.
“This marked an enhancement from my previous limited space, which could only accommodate fifty chickens, to a larger space capable of housing approximately five hundred chickens.
“Previously, I faced financial constraints that prevented me from pursuing such an endeavour, largely due to the stringent requirements needed to access a bank loan.
“But with this VSLA initiative I have been able to grow my business thanks to Rahama Women development, ActionAid Nigeria and Global Affairs Canada,” She stressed.
