Al-Habibiyyah, Keystone Bank Take Financial Literacy to Underserved Communities

Al-Habibiyyah Islamic Society in collaboration with Keystone Bank has provided financial literacy to over 300 women in an underserved community in the federal Capital Abuja.

Over a week-long interaction, the women, mostly widows and uneducated, from the Kpaduma and Kobi villages in Guzape District of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja were exposed to basic financial and banking knowledge. Over 200 hundred women opened an account for the first time.

Poverty alleviation project 

The head of Al-Habibiyyah’s Directorate of Empowerment and Endowment, Hajia Habibah Ahmed said the project was part of a continuing poverty alleviation project of the Islamic Society.

She explained that “during the recent cashless policy, we discovered that many of the women the society supports did not own bank account numbers, those who even owned accounts did not know how to operate them.”

“We want to continue to strengthen women and reduce their dependency on handouts and begging, by giving them skills and empowering them with what to do with their time,” she added.

Soft loans

In a brief ceremony to hand out empowerment equipment to some women, the Group Head of the Banks Retail and Value Chain, Mr Anayo Nwosu explained that the bank has soft loans to give women but that understanding how to save and keep records was important to making beneficiaries to optimize the loans.

Mr Nwosu said; “We have micro-lending for this type of women and they have demonstrated high integrity so we shall continue to work with the Al-Habibiyyah Islamic Society to reach out to more people.”

One of the beneficiaries Aisha Umar was appreciative of the exposure to financial matters telling Voice of Nigeria in pidgin English, that she would start saving money and learn the basics of bookkeeping.

She said; “I am surprised that there is so much I did not know before. Now, I will start saving money in the account, I will also be registering the money I make. You know the money will be coming in trickles since what I will be using the engine for will only bring in petty cash, but from what they told me, if I keep a register, it will help me understand when I am making a profit and how to adjust when I am not making a profit. I am grateful for this knowledge.” 

Leveraging on Al-Habibiyyah’s network with the grassroots, Keystone Bank through its Employee Volunteering Scheme, opened accounts for 300 women, gave 15 women gasoline-powered milling machines and an additional 5,000 naira to help them start off.

The ceremony was witnessed by community leaders.