Female hawkers to form co-ops to boost incomes

Women hawkers in the streets of Kigali will soon boost their income levels after authorities advised them to join cooperatives to access financial services.

The president of the national women council, Tengera Francesca, is buoyant that the effort to organise women street vendors into cooperatives and empower them is one way to enhance the business
sector.

“I know you are not poor as you always run up down and think that your hopes ends from there and that is why today we are here to implement knowledge which is missing.”
Tengera also noted that the cooperatives will help women to shun illicit business and target bigger businesses.

“We want to organise women who are in petty business to come together into cooperatives,” she said,
She also noted that hundreds of street vendors, mainly women usually flock in Kigali streets during evening hours.

This workshop organised by the national women council in partnership with Rwanda Cooperative Alliance is sensitising almost 321 women from Kigali on how they come together in cooperatives to expand their
business.

Audace Bimenyimana, the officer in charge curriculum development in the capacity building unit at RCA said that women are able to earn a lot from their meagre capital if they come together in cooperatives.

“By working together, these women have the advantage of earning a lot from their savings and build bigger businesses and they will be able to employ other people,” he said.

Genevieve Mukeshimana a mother of 4 who is a street vendor dealing in vegetables says she is optimistic that this effort will improve their business perceptions thus better incomes.

“I am always up and down fighting with the local security, but when the officials from our nyarugenge district called us to come for training I did not refuse because I believed after this workshop I am
going to through away (agataro).”

The mayor Nyarugenge Solange Mukasonga said that the government has already prepared minimarkets where female hawkers will be allocated to carry out their businesses on an expansive basis.

“We have started construction of two more selling points in Mageragere and Kanyinya. This will help many of these women to get a place,” she said, noting that the markets will help women to expand businesses after acquiring credit.