April 29, 2021: The Graça Machel Trust’s New Faces New Voices (NFNV) Zimbabwe Chapter convened a virtual roundtable under the theme Impacts of COVID-19 on women-led businesses and their financial inclusion. The meeting’s main objectives were to share experiences of women-led businesses given the emergence of the COVID-19 Pandemic and engage stakeholders on the impacts of the Pandemic on business and financial inclusion. The roundtable also provided a platform for stakeholders in the financial sector to engage and dialogue around the Pandemic’s impact on Experiences and Response by Business, Women’s Financial Inclusion in the world of COVID19 and how organizations can support women-led businesses.
Stock Photo.
In her opening remarks, NFNV Chairperson Dr Lucy Mandengenda commended the contributions of the networks in ensuring that women financial inclusion issues are addressed, especially now in the wake of the COVID-19 Pandemic. She pointed at how various social and economic activities have resulted in multiple disruptions in the economies. In Zimbabwe, where economic growth rates, business supply chains and demand have been disrupted, and SME operations stopped and failed to generate income. Dr Mandengenda added that “there are disparities between women-led businesses and those led by men; increasing gender gaps as women-led businesses are smaller and disproportionately at risk due to the pandemic”.
“Our call to action is to strengthen efforts to advance women’s inclusion in the economic recovery in the countries and safeguarding the gains in financial inclusion.”- Dr Lucia Mandengenda.
The Graça Machel Trust’s CEO and Programmes Director, Dr Shungu Gwarinda, shared her reflections on the Pan African perspectives on the impacts of COVID-19 on women’s businesses and financial inclusion drew from the lived experiences learnt from the 16 countries across Africa where the Trusts’ networks are. She said women on the continent make up 30% of SMEs at various levels of the economy. Predominantly from micro to medium, and fewer on large scale businesses, where 70% of these businesses are underserved, they impact their growth potential and contributions to the continent’s economic advancement and outcomes related to gender equality. She said responses must take into account the gendered impacts of COVID-19 and be informed by women’s voices.Â
“Women should be at the heart of the COVID-19 response decision-making and designing responses.” –Dr Shungu Gwarinda
Impacts of the Pandemic: Experiences and Response by Businesses
The workshop also highlighted first-hand accounts from different stakeholders, including Women Alliance of Business Associations in Zimbabwe (WABAZ), KUNZWANA Trust, Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce and Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI).
The speakers identified several challenges, including the impact on human capital- in terms of loss of life, health, emotional and mental toll of COVID-19, the care burden on women and unpaid work within the home because of school closures. Disruption of supply chains because of lockdowns thus products could not reach the markets and vice versa. Shift to digital platforms was also a challenge because of social media host limitations, dilapidated inferior technologies, cost and digital media literacy. Cost of operations remaining high, while the businesses were not making any money, leading to loss of business and capital. “For many SMEs especially, business capital was turned to consumptive resources,” shared Irene Mukarakate, Chairperson of WABAZ.Â
Graça Machel Trust WAA Archive Photo 2017: Women in Business Network- African Doll WAA Display
In mitigating the impacts, businesses had to adapt and adjust the way they did business, change their business models and take advantage of business opportunities created by the Pandemic. Additionally, women had to learn how to renegotiate and service their loans. Dissemination of information for opportunities available to help businesses survive and training on enhancing online marketing and trading. WABAZ, such as helping its members form and create their safety nets in the form of SACCOs.Â
The second session focused on women’s financial inclusion exploring how women led-businesses can access finance, how COVID-19 affected customer access and how they took advantage of digital platforms established following the Pandemic. Some solutions that banks like CBZ Bank and Steward Bank offered moratorium periods on loans innovate with programmes like tap and go to reduce cash transactions, engage with development partners to provide funding for informal sectors.Â
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ), the country’s central bank, also had a presentation that discussed the government’s comprehensive National Financial Inclusion Strategy (NFIS) to increase access to affordable and appropriate formal financial services. Some of the lessons learnt under the COVID-19 Pandemic included:Â
- COVID-19 is not gender-blind; the responses to it should consist of identifying and understanding the gender dimensions of the Pandemic in finding sustainable solutions and responses to the Pandemic.Â
- Empowering economic measures targeting women and Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) should be in place to address and mitigate the loss of income and livelihoods for millions of women.Â
- Gender dimensions must be taken on board at all stages of policy design to ensure that our COVID-19 recovery leaves no one behind.Â
- Further, the Pandemic has presented an opportunity for government and relevant stakeholders to accelerate the formalization and sustainability of the MSMEs sector during and post- COVID-19 period.Â
Some of the implemented relief measures included, government and the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe are implementing various responsive interventions to compensate SMEs for loss of income during the lockdown periods. The government also rolled out cash transfers to cover 1 million poor and vulnerable households, many of which are women-headed and offered allowances’ and other incentives to the front-line health workers, most of whom are women. The roundtable concluded with how to support women’s economic and financial inclusion and a call to action recommending for COVID19 responses to consider gendered impacts of COVID and be informed by women’s voices.
IStock image: Women in Business
New Faces New Voices (NFNV) focuses on expanding the role and influence of women in the financial sector and advocates for womenâs access to finance and financial services. The network aims to bridge the funding gap in financing women-owned businesses in Africa and to advocate for policy and legislative changes. The overall objective of the network is to advance the financial inclusion of women by bringing more women into the formal financial system.Â
The Trust supports and mobilises civil society networks on issues of ending child marriage, ending violence against children, ending female genital mutilation and promoting childrenâs rights, to carry out advocacy and action across Africa. Special focus is placed on Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia where child marriage continues to be a problem largely driven by poverty, gender inequality, harmful traditional practices, conflict, low levels of literacy, limited opportunities for girls and weak or non-existent protective and preventive legal frameworks.
Education is a fundamental right for all children, which is also a vehicle for social, economic and political transformation in communities, countries and the African continent at large. Recent studies indicate a lack of progress in some of the critical commitments aimed at improving education quality, access, retention and achievement, particularly for girls. In most African countries, girls may face barriers to learning, especially when they reach post-primary levels of education. By implementing multi-dimensional approaches to education which includes core education, personal development, life skills and economic competencies, the Trust partners with funding partners, governments, civil societies and the private sector to improve education access.
The Nutrition and Reproductive, Maternal, New-born, Child and Adolescent Health and Nutrition, (RMNCAH+N) of the Childrenâs Rights and Development Programme aims at promoting the Global Strategy for women, children and adolescentsâ health within the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) agenda. The strategy emphasises on the importance of effective country leadership as a common factor across countries making progress in improving the health of women, children and adolescents.
Through its Early Childhood Development (ECD) plan, The Trust will seek to put into action the new science and evidence Report that was presented by Lancet Series on Good and early development – the right of every child. This will be achieved by mobilising like-minded partners to contribute in the new science and evidence to reach all young children with ECD. The Trustâs goal is to be a catalyst for doing things differently, in particular, to rid fragmentation and lack of coordination across ECD sectors. In response to evidence showing the importance of political will in turning the tide against the current poor access and quality of ECD. Even before conception, starting with a motherâs health and social economic conditions, the early years of a childâs life form a fundamental foundation that determines whether a child will survive and thrive optimally.