MY ACCOMPLISHMENT IS THAT WITH THE CASH TRANSFERS, THE EDUCATION OF MY THREE CHILDREN IS GUARANTEED.

Did you know that in the 2021 - 2022 world bank survey of over 36 economies on the African continent, in 16 of them well over 50 percent of adults had an (bank) account. They include Kenya (79 percent), Senegal (56 percent), and South Africa (85 percent).

There is no single financial inclusion pattern that defines all economies in the region thus highlighting how drastic economies can vary on the continent.

Highlighting this helps paint the picture of financial institutional access across the continent and in this particular case, highlighting the #DRC, where Fatuma is from. The DRC, especially the eastern part of the country that has long faced conflict and isolation from the world.

For someone like Fatuma, with little to no access to financial institutions, savings groups create an answer in a lake of questions. Fatuma states that with the immense joy she has been experiencing from the advent of the project in the village of Balendelende, she should not let it cloud her from planning and saving for the future, something that the savings group are enabling her to accomplish.

Her accomplishments as she shared with us were that with the unconditional cash transfers that she has received thus far, the education of her three children is now guaranteed alongside better life satisfaction and support. She has also purchased a goat that she tends to view as the first step in expanding her farming capabilities.