BY KWANELE TSABEDZE
BUHLENI – Cheaper loans and financial services for Eswatini women!
The Imbita Women’s Finance Trust has launched a mobile application to reduce the costs and efforts of accessing financial services for women Eswatini. The organisation’s new app is called Heleza, and can be accessed by dialing *9108#.
The application makes it easier for women to register to be members of the organisation, as well as to access savings and loan facilities from the comforts of their homes.
The development of the application was supported by USAID Eswatini. Speaking at the launch on behalf of US Ambassador Jeanne Maloney, John Jenks, said that his office was happy to have been involved in this positive development for Imbita Women’s Finance Trust.
“USAID funded women’s empowerment for economic recovery for a year, as you have heard, is improving women’s economic participation here in Eswatini by adjusting legal and regulatory shortfalls in creating greater economic opportunities through access to financial services, and improved hiring practices,” said Jenks.
Speaking to Eswatini TV about the Heleza app, Imbita Women’s Finance Trust Vice Chairperson Dr Phindile Dlamini said they were ensuring that they take advantage of digitalisation to benefit their members.
“We are doing this so that our members no longer need to travel to our offices to get savings and loan services. We have worked with MTN Eswatini to make this happen on our phones through digitalisations. This means our members can use any phone to save and borrow from the comfort of their own homes,” said Dr Dlamini.
Imbita Swaziland Women’s Finance Trust is a nonprofit making organization registered under Section 21 in 1991. It was founded by a group of Swazi women to ameliorate constraints that were perceived to be responsible for trapping emaSwati, particularly women in the poverty cycle, thus resulting in slow economic advancement or no advancement at all.
