/ . . ' : ,- ), i 0---,i-t'< '-'
Economic Commission for Africa
Commission economique pour l' Afrique
FINAL REPORT ON PROJECT
INCREASING WOMEN'S ACCESS TO CREDIT THROUGH TRAINING IN MANAGEMENT AND CREDIT TECHNIQUE
Funded by
SWEDISH INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY (SIDA)
UNITED NATIONS ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR AFRICA AFRICAN TRAINING AND RESEARCH CENTRE FOR WOMEN
FINAL REPORT
ON PROJECT
INCREASING WOMEN'S ACCESS TO CREDIT THROUGH TRAIHnfG ,IN MANAGEMENT AND CREDIT TECHH:IQUE
Funded by: Swedish International Development Authoritv (SIDAl Executed by: United Nations Economic Commission for Africa
IUNECAl
I • BACKGROmm
The need to increase African women's technical competence and economic opportunities attracted the Swedish International Development Authority (SIDA) to Economic Commission for Africa/
African Training and Research centre for Women (ECA/ATRCW). And since 1975 SIOA has SUbstantially supported ATRCW in her drive to improve women's situations positively. One of such support is its funding this project "increasing women's access to credit through training in management and credit techniques".
ATRCW initiated this project in order to assist rural and urban poor women to benefit from entrepreneurship development and access to credit facilities in Africa. The activities of the project are in accordance with the recommendations of the Arusha strategies for the Advancement of African women 1984 which
"stressed the need for assisting and developing women's capabilities and opportunities in basic priority sectors, such as food and agricultureI industry and human resources development". It is- also in accordance with the Africa's Priority Programme for Economic Recovery 1986-1990 which
IIemphasized in fts :medium-term measures the effective participation of women in all dimensions of development as well as indigenous entrepreneurial capabilities both private and publicnV.
I I • THE PROJECT OBJECTIVES
The long-term development objective of the project is to increase economic opportunities for women and enhance their capability to participate in the solution of the African
dev~lopmentcrisis.
The immediate objectives are to:
i) improve women technical management and entrepreneurial skills;
ii) increase and improve access to existing credit facilities' for rural and poor-urban women and:
iii) set up- pilot projects in order to demonstrate different possibilities of using credit facilities for development of small-scale industries.
lJ Consideration of the critical economic situation in Africa to focus in a comprehensive and integrated manner, on the rehabilitation and medium term and long-term development challenges facing African countries with a view to promoting and adopting action oriented and concerted measures (A/c-1J/AC 1/L3 31 May 1986)
) • EXPECTED QOil·POT
~he expected outputs of ~he project are to:
i) adop~ measures to improve women's management skills;
i.i) 25 business women trained entrepreneurial skills:
in management and iii) three national pilot projects established, operational
and self-reliant by end of the project: and iv) individual
projects, project.
or group funded and
projects generated by pilot operational by end of the
4. TARGET GROUP AND COUIITRIES
The project was designed to cover the"African reqion but use three countries (Ethiopia, Zambia and Rwanda) on pilot basis for the articulation of measures that would help increase women's access to credit. The beneficiaries of the project included rural and poor-urban women who must have already been in the modern monetorized sector giving attention to least developed. and drought-affected counties
PART I
PRELIMINARY ACTIVITIES FOR THE IMPLEllENTATIOH OF THE PROJECT
1. Funds were approved and made available
implemen~ation of the projec~ in March 1987.
for the The original project called for a bilateral expert production specialist who was to be made available to the centre
by the donor for the carrying out of some specific activities linked with the Bethlehem Produc~ionCentre of Ethiopia. For one reason or the other the bilateral expert was phased out of the project also the activities of production at the Bethlehem.
Centre. In the light of this situation ECA/ATRCW used one of its regular staff to start off the implementation of the project.
Within the last qUarter of 1987 ECA/ATRCW organized an entrepreneurial management training programme for 16 business women drawn from Eastern and Southern African Region which resulted into an educational study tour made by these women to Ghana. From this tour they acquired training in the rudiments of entrepreneurship development and management.
However due to the diverse nature of actions to be undertaken including field operation i t was discovered that it would be difficult combining regular work of ATRCW with the project work, as such ECA/ATRCW went out to recruit project officers with specific responsibility for the implementation of the project. The recruitment exercise delayed the implementation of-the project until September and November 1988 respectively when the two project officers came on board.
The officers on taking the job studied the project. The study clearly revealed that there was a lot of work to be covered
within the one year specified in the officers job description and
terms of reference. In addition there was need for more time as there was no base line data or feasibility study on which to draw up a concrete plan of work for the achievement of the objectives and outputs of the project.
Furthermore the phasing out of the position of WID coordinators at the suggested pilot countries, created resource gaps as these coordinators were to do the necessary follow-up and make contacts, with the pilot countries on their participation in the project implementation. With these felt gaps, officers observed that there was further need for more time as there was no prior agreement with the suggested three pilot countries on their willingness to accept the participation in the implementation of the project.
In view of these, the project was revised to extend its life
by six more months based on the amount of funds available.
2. Data cOllection
In the absence of base line information, data collection was considered as an immediate action required for providing vital information on which to base appropriate activities.
i) A one-week (28 November to 2 December 1988) subregional seminar on "measures to improve women's management skills and credi t techniques was organi zed in Douala, Cameroon. The Seminar pUlled from the participants, basic information on the credit situation of women, needs to be met for access to credit and entrepreneurial development and the types and nature of assistance programmes to be developed. In general the seminar provided a birds eye view of the African women credit issues and situation.
ii) Between 6 to 10 December 1988 one project officer undertook a fact finding mission to Nigeria. The mission was to provide more insight into women's credit and establish actions required for helping women face their credit problems and hence qualify for credit. This mission further established that the issues of womenI s access to credit and 1:;heir entrepreneurial development needed to be addressed as· they were affecting women's socia-economic roles in development. It was discovered that
Nigeria had embarked on project/programmes designed to address the issues and needs of Nigerian women credit access and entrepreneurial development. During the mission it was recommended that project/programmes be developed to provide assistance for the identification and development of viable business projects that fit women's operational condition-one possibility was the identification of viable projects that can be home based.
3. Exploratory/Feasibility study
Exploratory/feasibility study visits were undertaken by project officers between January and April of 1989 ta suqqested participating project countries. The visits were undertaken to open up communication and make appropriate contacts.
Ethiopia
In January 1989 the Project Officers visited REWA and reopened the 1987/88 discussions between REWA and ATRCW on the acceptance of Ethiopia participating in the project implementation. It was during this January 1989 visit that the project was able to get some meaningful dialogue with REWA that eventually led to their letting the officers know their intentions to participate, provided project met stipulated conditions. At this meeting, it was categorically made clear and was stated by REWA officers that the project had obvious limitations within the context of the political and financial structure of Ethiopia. It was further established that if Ethiopia was to participate in the project, the project must be modified to fit into the reality of the leqal and financial arrangements and structure of their country. REWA at this point
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was not able to make any firm commitment on its willingness to accept being a pilot country until it referred and discussed with its higher authority. REWA finally made its conditional acceptance in a letter to the project officers in mid-June 1989.
Zambia
Between February 4 to 16 1989 project officers undertook mission to Zambia to explore the feasibility of the project and made appropriate contac~ for the implementation of the project.
On getting to Zambia, it was discovered that as much as the project: officers had earlier sent background information and terms of reference of mission, Zambian Government was taking the mission to be in connection with another project RAF/87/042 -
"Informal sector".
This misunderstanding was considered apparently cleared after briefing them on the project and submission of part of the project document, hence the team was allowed to continue the exploratory mission. -
Mission spent time to make necessary contacts and SOlicit feedback on the feasibility of the project. Project was considered feasible and very much in line with Zambia's Fourth National Development Plan relating to women in development, specifically project "Increasing Women's Access to Credit" fited in with element 3 .. 3.5 "Access to Credit and Finance" of the Zambia"s Fourth National Development Plan.
The mission was able to accomplish the following:-
met and discussed with institutions/individuals that have an input to make on accessing women to credit:
established NCDP as focal ministry through whom project would be implemented;
obtained the general acceptance on
willingness to participate in project: Zambia's
iden~ified possible institutions to collaborate with:
working relationship was established between NCDP officer resulting into the assigning of an NCDP officer as counterpart to project:
general agreement for a round-table meeting in Zambia in May 1989 to discuss and make detailed plans and arrive at logistics towards the successful implementation of the project.
The agreed immediate activity - "Round-Table" - which should have taken place in May was forestalled as it was later on observed that there was apparent duplication between the two projects "Increasing Womenls Access to Credit" and RAF/87/042 - Informal Sector. It might be for this reason that project
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officers found i t difficult to obtain the required clearance for organising the round table despite several telexes and telephone conversations between ECA, MULPOC and NCDP. This situation was brought to the attention of the mid-year review committee which suggested that officers consider moving the project to another country in the light of the delays.
Rwanda
April 4 to 10 mission was taken to Rwanda to explore the feasibility and make necessary contacts with the government and other institution and to identify viable project. On getting to Rwanda it was again discovered that there was no fore knowledge or agreement between ECA and the Rwandan Government on its participating in the project. It was made clear that the approval of the mission was based on the background paper and terms of reference earlier sent by project officers. This si tuation resulted in team having to thorouqhly explain to Rwandan focal ministry what the project was all about and get their consent to participate in the project before proceeding to carry out activities of the exploratory mission. The mission team met, discussed and made contacts with appropriate institutions, Government and individuals iri Rwanda. CUlminating from the contacts were the country"acceptance of participating in the project and the arrival at the following understandings:- that the focal point for implementation of the project be Ministry of Interior and Communal Development;
that DUTERIMBERE be the Institution through which the project would be implemented;
that a seminar to bring together all institutions that could contribute in carrying out activities in accessing women to credit be organized in order to discuss and determine priority areas for project focus and emphasis also to establish relationship between all the institutions to be involved.
Uganda
On failing to obtain the required clearance from Zambia for carrying out the initial project activities and in order to avoid unnecessary delay as was observed in the mid-year review, thought was given on country to replace Zambia. In this regard and taking into consideration a previous observation by the director of the SIDA Africa Regional Office that Uganda would be very appropriate for implementation of this project, and again request from Uganda asking for training programme within this area, Uganda was therefore given high priority as an alternative pilot countr/ for the implementation of the project.
On this, a mission was carried out to Uganda between 10 to
13 October, 1989 to explore Ugandals willingness to participate in the project implementation.
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The mission team met, discussed, and made contact with the Government ministries, institutions and individuals. The mission was able to get UgandaI s willingness to participate in the implementation of the project in principles. The Ministry of Planning requested the formalisation of Uganda's participation through a letter by ECA. Other outcome of the missions were:-
the identification and establishment of Ministry of Women in Development as the focal point for the implementation of the project;
relation building workshop be organized by 3rd week of January 1990;
bringing together various actors involved in women entrepreneurship development;
a national coordinator be identified by Uganda and paid for by the project.
From all the exploratory missions undertaken to the various countries, there were obvious indications establishing the need to design project to meet countries s.pecifications. For example,
it was discovered that each country was· on different level of project assimilation, thus, requiring different approaches and stages of injection. The countries also demanded specific areas of emphasis and attention so that the project" could make relevant impact. -Furthermore, the observations indicated that the
delivery of the project must be approached from the package point of view. This required doses of actions that would:-
prepare women with the needed credit qualifications;
help women to identify a well defined bankable project to be accessed to credit:
provide credit enabling support that could render women credit worthy.
In addi ticn the capacity building of intermediary and support agencies for necessitating the fulfilment of the above actions were other areas that project had to impact on
4 Linkage/Relationship Building Seminar.
During the exploratory visits the three countries agreed that there should be a seminar to be conducted in each country at which all the organisations, institutions ministries and individuals who would have parts to play in women's entrepreneurship development should be brought together. Based on this a "Linkage/Relationship Building Seminar" was conducted in the three pilot countries respectively. The seminar did bring together various agencies who had roles to play on the issue of women's credit and their entrepreneurship development. In addition the seminar created general awareness on the project and on the issues of women entrepreneurship and their access to credit. These seminars were also able to map out the various
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roles to be played in the project implementation and obtained the willingness of related agencies playing different roles. The discussions in the seminar brought out strongly the areas the project had to impact on. These include:
relationship building
recruiting a national coordinator In each country institution building
setting up of pilot project
projec~ evaluation
information disseminacion
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PART II PROJECT DELIVERY
The project delivery engaged on the operationalization of the :3 designed broad component.s adopted through exploratory visits, seminar and other contacts:-
relationship building
recruitment of a national coordinator institution building
setting up of pilot project
projec~ evaluation
information dissemination 1. Relationship building
Activities of relationship building were carried out at the initiation of the project as this was a critical take off requirement in field-operation. The activities carried out aimed at building relationships- between project.officers and project country on the one hand and the intermediary agents and other support organisations on the other hand. Based on these the following actions were taken:-
At the exploratory stage, visits were made to aqencies and organisations related to the project. The visits were used to introduce both the project and project officers and also to gain their consent, involvement and input in the final outcome of the project.
A national linkage seminar bringing together various agencies was organized. This seminar created general awareness on the project itself and specifically on the issue being addressed (women entrepreneurship and access to credit). It also developed the linkage between the intermediary organization and other supporting agencies and financial institutions.
Furthermore, obligated the relative agencies into the necessary'roles they should play.
2. Institution building
It was discovered that intermediary interventions were needed in the three pilot countries for- any meaningful impact on women entrepreneurial development and credit access. These interventions, the project came ~o realize are even more critical when dealing with rural and urban poor women who most times do not have the confidence and know how of seeking for opportunities. These observations led to the building of institutional capacity and capability for providinq all dimensions of needed support towards women entrepreneurial development and credit access:
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Institution building was carried out through the following:
i) Development of guidelines on the critical areas for providing support and the required measures for providing such needed support. The integrative approach for providing packages of assistance was also developed and introduced to the project country. This approach called for the joining of hands by various support institution for the provision of multifaceted assistance that would make women capable entrepreneurs and also would qualify them for credit. It also established the development role of financial institutions and that this role should reflect their lending policies and arrangement.
ii) Development of training programmes for the training of extension agents on women entrepreneurship development and their access to credit. Three country specific training programmes were drawn reflecting each country specifications and differences •.
iii) Training of extension agents for providinq support to women on entrepreneurship development, management and credit acquisition .
. iv) outreach guidance was provided the agents by takinq them on a field work to demonstrate how support on project identification, project development, group development and linkage of project and group to banks could be carried out.
3. Pilot project development
The rational used in developing and setting up of the pilot project was the need to demonstrate the various measures proposed
by the project.. In general the pilot projects were out to demonstrate that by providing support in needed areas and by
developing a good working relationship and understanding between intermediary institutions and the banks women's access to credit could be enhanced.
In this context the project planned and carried out the following:-
.
,
1 )
ii)
group identification/formation/development;
saving mobilisation within group and linking of the savings to financial institutions for credit acquisitions;
iii) identification of project ideas;
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iv) development of project ideas into bankable projects:
v) linking bankable project and group to banks for funding:
vi) securing the loan from banks:
vii) setting up the business entity:
viii) providing business supervision, the business training and other follow-up.
4. Dissemination of information
Dissemination of information was planned to be a continuous process along side life of the project. Project officers therefore took advantage of any situation they could use to disseminate information. Briefings were held with individuals and institutions visiting the centre and looking for information along the project line. : :
Officers participated in meetings, trainings and other forum dealing with women/s entrepreneurship and access to credit. At such fora officers- made significant inputs that helped to provide understanding and direction as to measures to be taken.
Furthermore, papers were written and presented on the findings of . the project and issues to be addressed at meetings and conferences. Publications on project findings, measures to be
adopted and guidelines for providing support were also developed and disseminated.
_s-.
EvaluationEvaluation was planned to be continuous throughout the
implementation. The heavy involvement of pilot countries in the implementation of the project provided timely feedbacks on which necessary adjustments on project delivery were made. These
feedbacks also helped project officer in having better perception on the method of project delivery and specific areas of needs that were met.
In addition to these unstructured evaluation a structured evaluation was planned and carried out 2-4 November 1990 which the report had been written and circulated.
6. Project accomplishments
This being the final report i t will be necessary to outline the project accomplishments. These will help to support the line of actions taken and to show that the actions fail in line with the objectives and expected outputs spelt out in the project documents. The accomplishments are catalogued under their related objective as follows:
A)
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Measures to improve entrepreneurial skills
women management and In fUlfilling this output the project: came up with the following strategies:
I. liThe integrated approach for providing women with a packaged assistance that would help them acquire management and entrepreneurial skills towards the effective management of their enterprises" was developed. This measure was actualized through the linkage and relationship building process between various agencies providing assistance towards entrepreneurship development and credit access. Through this the identification of roles to be played by the various organizations, institutions and individual were established. This resulted the development of mutual understanding and concerted effort for the provision of assistance towards women's improved management skills. In the case of Ethiopia where the integrated approach was not readily feasible because of the absence of an intermediation agency a task force was developed bringing together all actors related to the project activities. An integrative working relationship was built between these agencies for the .provision of support in such areas like training, project identification and development, group identification/formation, resource mObilization and other required action. This task force is now putting together the modalities for the eventual creation of a financial intermediary institution within the auspices of revolutionary Ethiopia women1s association.
In the same vein a task force was formed in uganda to monitor, provide direction and guidance for guaranteeing the provision of the needed support towards improved management of women enterprises.
The linkage seminar in Rwanda heightened the awareness, the need for integrating the various roles of related agency for the provision of multi-dimensional support towards women effective enterprise development and management.
II. Development of genderbiased extension agents training programme for women's improved management and entrepreneurial skills. It created a wider outreaching for poor and rural women at their grass root level. Again it created greater awareness to rural women and the extension agents themselves. The training programme has introduced the dimension of women entrepreneurship development in other extension services.
III. The use of outreach approach through extension agents trained in management and entrepreneurial skills for providing on the site business training, assistance and advice to already functioning business individuals and groups. Likewise outreaching was carried out for identification and development of business ideas, identification/formation and development af groups, savings mobilization from groups, linking savinqs to
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formal banking institution, bridging women to funds and providing supervision and follow-up to would be business women.
These strategies helped women acquire the management skills
tha~ banks require for giving loans. They also provided the management confidence and ability that women must bring to their business endeavour. For urban poor and rural women who could not acquire these skills through formal training, outreaching provided a medium through which they could be exposed to management and entrepreneurial skills.
B) 25 business women trained entrepreneurial skills
in management and This output was reconsidered and redesigned to gain wider regional impact and sustainability. The rationale for redesigning this output was that training just 25 business women would not create the necessary regional impact that the project called for. The mUltiplier effect was also taken into consideration in redesigning this output. Therefore the training of business women was pr'ov.i.ded through direct and indirect methods and process.
I. The direct approach took 16 Eastern and Southern African women to Ghana to experience entrepreneurship activities in action. Through this they were exposed to management and entrepreneurial skills. This exercise led to the production of a video documentary using small scale enterprise activities in Ghana to highlight the required management and entrepreneurial skills. This video had been used in training and for building awareness in some African countries. Also using the direct approach 10 ladies have been trained in management and entrepreneurial skills and are in the process of embarking on a project to be funded by the AgriCUltural and Industrial Development Bank of Ethiopia. The 10 ladies are also being contracted into extension services for World Bank on Village Market Micro enterprise in Ethiopia.
II. Through the indirect method 80 extension agents have been trained in management. and entrepreneurial skills development and suppor-t, These have started providing management and entrepreneurial skills and supports to individuals/business groups. For example in the case of Uganda, the 20 trained agents deployed in the field have provided management and entrepreneurial skills developments to 8 groups of x number of business women who have now got their loan from cooperative bank of Uganda to upgrade/start new businesses.
In the case of Ethiopia 10 of the 20 trained agents are providing management and entrepreneurial skills development and support through their affiliated organizations namely Ministry of AgriCUlture, Handicraft and Small Scale Industry Agency and Agricultual and Industrial Development Bank. The other 10 trained agents are combining the running of their own cattle fattening project with the provision of management and entrepreneurial skills development and support to other women.
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In Rwanda 40 extension agents have been trained and they are
to help their different ministries in propagating women's entrepreneurship development and also to support OUTER1MBERE in identifying and organizing more women groups and groom them for securing bank loans.
This indirect method has provided the scope of having a wider multiplier effect in the three pilot countries. In all the project output in this area so far exceeds the 25 expected.
C) Three national pilot projects established operational and self reliant by the end of project
This aspect of project which covers the following actions:
group formation and development
- savings mObilizations within the group and linking of the savings to financial institutions
identification of bankable project and its access to credit
- . providing project supervision and all other follow-up, have begun in all the project coun~ries
Work has begun in Ethiopia were ten of the trained agents are also engaging in a cattle fattening project to be funded by the AgriCUltural and Industrial Development Bank. The absorption of these ten agents into the present activities of Revolutionary Ethiopian Womenls Association (the organisation that is developing an intermediary image and responsibility) is limited
by resources. As such the rationale is that by engaging these ten extension agents in the cattle fattening project they will be provided with income, and at the same time be able to extend services to other women. The processing of the land acquisition from the government, the registration of the group as a cooperative and the loan acquisition from the bank are all far gone. It is hopefUl that all of these will be finalized as the project is now coming to an end at ECA level. HopefUlly the cattle fattening operation is scheduled to start sometime in April.
In the case of Uganda the trained extension agents have been working with women groups. 8 women groups have already been mobilized and accessed to the cooperative bank of Uganda 4 out of the
a
groups have secured loan for their business which the total loan came to 5 million Ugandan shillings.Rwanda is at the process of identifying new groups of women and mobilizing funds from them for the access to the bank. At the moment the 40 extension agents trained are carrying out support services with 800 women groups DUTERIMBERE has helped into small scale enterprises.
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D) Individual or group grojects generated bv pilot grojec'ts funded and operational by the end of the project
The generation of individual or group projects is built into
the output (establishment: of pilot projects). This is being accomplished through the agen~s deployed in the field, who in Uganda have identified eight groups and have channelled their project to the bank. In Ethiopia the ten trained agents have formed themselves into cooperative, developed the cattle fattening project for themselves and submitted project to bank for funding.
Output C and D have been accomplished simultaneously.
E) Dissemination and operationalisation of the project The project officers used the time they were in the office in preparing many documents which will be sources
information. These include:
a) "Guide for the Promotion and Development of African
Women Entrepreneurship and their access to credit"
(English and French)
b) "Increasing the access of African women to credit an . integrated approach" (English and French)
c) "Programme/syllabus for training extension agents"
(English)
d) tlSituation Analysis of Women Entrepreneurs -
suggested measures for addressing the constraints facing women"
e) favourable mechanisms for African women
entrepreneurship development and resource mobilization (English)
All these have, been tested and found very useful. The project officers also developed a project proposal on the operationalizaticn of the project mechanism and experiences gained. This document has been forwarded to TACOO for its action. The proposal is seeking assistance from Netherlands government.
7. Activities still pending
Generally the activities still pending are around the pilot development aspect of the project. However varying degrees of act:ivities have been accomplished by Uganda and Ethiopia where the groups projects are to be launched at any time from now.
Activi ties of launching the generated group projects and the subsequent follow-up and supervision for guaranteeing sustainability are still pending. But the most important thing
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is that women are function in their groups and the four groups
~n Uganda have secured their loan.
Ethiopia in addition to fulfilling the pilot activities also
has to accomplish building up of institutional framework, a needed dimension that will continue the provision of support and other services. Ethiopia through a task force made up of leading organizations related to the project activities is developing a financial intermediary agency under the auspice of REWA for the provision of support and services required for women (especially rural and urban poor) entrepreneurship development and their access to credit.
Rwanda still has a lot of field work to do more especially on the identification of new bankable project and accessing them to bank.
All the countries expressed the concern that ECA and SIDA are ceasing their help too early in the project and this may result in termination of the project with little or no impact.
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PART III
OBSERVATIOH/RECOMMEHDATIOHS
In the implementation of this project the two years eventually allocated for this project happened to be very short considering the amount and intensity of work involved. The limited time allocated is compounded by lack of prior initial preparatory ground work needed in ascertaining the commitment and cooperation of the countries to be involved in the project implementation. But in all the general observation is that this project provided a channel for enhancing women/s contribution to African's economic development. The project fulfilled the needed areas of forestering the promotion of entrepreneurship by mobilizing capital, developing entrepreneurial skills and increasing access to efficient services in Africa and for African women.
The three pilot countries accepted the project and appreciated the outcome: of it even as the· project is coming to an end.
As a project officer who is aware of the need for the project within the socio economic development of the continent and .also aware of how the pilot project countries have accepted this project, I would very much recommend the full implementation of this project. The experience drawn from it should be replicated in other countries and information on project outcome be widely disseminated. In this regard it is necessary to observe that there is definite need for the extension of the project life. This considered or required extension of the project life would reflect the time needed in carrying out the various activities necessary to consolidate the developed mechanism for accessing women to entrepreneurship with special emphasis to accessing to formal credits. Some studies and field experience have shown that women's projects lack sustainability and continuity more e~peciallymost of bilateral funded projects.
This unfortunately happens because of the time limit and funds accorded to projects which do not see the implementation of the project to the optimum completion and do not allow time to fully gain the impact.
In the case of this project, a high impact must be able to develop an intermediary agency, develop necessary support systems, demonstrate invisible terms of actions required to lead and access women to credit. The achievement of all these actions takes some good time. Take for example the action of linking women to financial institution - this action calls for several prerequisite activities that will prepare women as acceptable clients for loan. These activities range from - having a bank account in the financial institution to presenting bankable project that meets the banks requirement. The fulfilment of these activities can take between six months to one year
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depending at which stage of creditworthiness the women are during the request.
~o observe on this critical aspec~ of the project that is still pending in Rwanda i t is necessary to list the activities
involved.
In accessing a group of rural women who invariably may not have bank account in financial institutions calls for the following activities:
organize a homogeneous group
mobilize savings within the group
link the savings to a financial institution
develop the savings level that will be used as bridging capital
identify bankable project
present project to financial institution obtain the credit
establish the business
follow-up business activities to ensure profitability and repayment.
The achievement of this alone will take more than one year.
Another critical aspect of the project is the dissemination of information on the outcome of the project - this presumes that the -project has been followed up to its maturity from which experiences can be drawn for dissemination.
It is essential that the need for the extension of the life of the project also takes into consideration the realities of gestation periods between the various phases of the project cycle, that at the same time, there is a sequential approach to fulfilling the phases, therefore there is need for more time.
The phases of an entrepreneurial development of pilot
projec~ after obtaining the loan call for:
star~ing-off the business
guiding the productive capacity of the business for profitability and
ensuring the sustainability of the business.
Taking a critical view of the above indicates that this project could have done better if more time and fund were allocated to it.
This project represents a powerful economic base whose contribution can go towards realizing economic development for sustainable growth as outlined in:
African Alternative Framework to structural Adjustment Programmes for Socia-Economic Recovery and Transformation as captioned in Chapter II.
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The World Bank document of "Towards the Sustainable Growth of SUb-Sahara Africa" economies as captioned in Chapter VI.
Furthermore, women entrepreneurs as actors in this quest for Africa/s sustainable growth, should be given the continuous attention that can make them participate effectively. This calls for prolonged activities that can treat all aspects of women entrepreneurship development.
III. The integrated approach which calls for careful analysis of needs and the provision of these needs through collaborative actions requires an effective network between agencies and the building up of strong and healthy working relationship. All these require time.
IV . Measures have been developed which need to be operationalize within the region for wider dissemination and replication. To
be able to accomplish this more time is definitely needed.
v.
The impact of the project needs to be observed and no time was built into the current:project life for this. In this regard it is observed that more time is needed. .Having made the- above observation on the definite need for the project and justifications for more time allocation, i t is hereby recommended that consideration be given for more time and new funds' to complete and operationalize the project.
The activities of women entrepreneurship development and access to credit should not end with this project. I t is recommended that continuous effort be made by all concerned to mobilize action and resource for carrying out activities in this area.
Another recommendation is the development of network between women entrepreneurs at national, subregional and regional levels for promoting their interest and activities.
It is also recommended that intermediary agents be
established to provide the necessary support services, and to form linkage with other support agents who promote womenls acquistion of managerial and entrepreneurial skills.
The linkage of informal savings and credit network to formal financial institutions for bridging women to credit is highly recommended.
It is recommended that banking institution be sensitized on their developmental role and the need to move away ~rom
traditional banking practices to more developmental pract1ses that would open up to women - rural and poor groups.
For the categories of "poorest of the poor" it is recommended that donor contribution be mobilised for developing subsidized credit schemes.
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The project is field oriented and requires out reach for meeting and servicing women's entrepreneurial and credit needs especially rural women. Because of the field oriented nature of the project a vehicle is required for going out to service the needs of women. Anybody developing a project of this nature should give a thought to transportation.
Finally women must not be encouraged to come caps in hand begging but must have stakes in the business venture in order to maintain their sense of responsibility and interest. It is therefore recommended that resources be mobilized from women through savings and linked to banks for access to credit. This project tried this strategy and i t worked and inspired women groups in taking active parts.
8. Conclusions
The general conclusion is that the project is well received by the three pilot countries who have expressed their wish for extended support of the project activities towards a successful completion.
A proposal was developed and forwarded to SWedish International Development Authority for the fundinq of one year extension of the project to December 1991, but this was rejected because of change of policy.
_In addition to the funding of the one year extension there is also need to provide vehicles to enable extension agents carry out extension services for the promotion of women entrepreneurship and their access to credit. This may be very hard now the project is coming to an end. It may be that each country will find a way to raise fund for this.
Ethiopia needs to be supported in developing the proposed financial intermediary institution, and also requires some guidance in the business establishment.
A proposal for funding the operationalisation of the measures proposed in ,the handbook "Increasing Women's Access to Credit" - an integrated approach" and "Guide for the Promotion and Development of- African Women Entrepreneurship and their access to Credit" has been developed and has been submitted to TACOO who will be forwarding i t to Netherlands Government.
Looking at the ending situation of the project with still some critical activities to be accomplished for the successful completion of the project, it is hoped that ECA should sought new funds both internally and externally to bring the project to its optimum conclusion. ECA should also give the project the subregional perspective through the dissemination of information and operationalizing the measures and documents produced.
In concluding we extend our sincere thanks and appreciation to the Swedish International Development Authority for providing funds towards the carrying out of the project activities.
