IFC village phone programme empowers women in Africai

The International Finance Corporation, IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, yesterday disclosed  that its Village Phone programme has provided credit to nearly 6,000 women and trained close to 10,000 to set up phone service businesses in Madagascar, Malawi and Nigeria, increasing the economic participation of women in some of Africa’s most rural communities.

IFC’s Village Phone Programme links large telecom operators with African entrepreneurs who sell airtime on the companies’ networks to people in their local communities.
 The relationship brings rural villagers access to telephone services, local entrepreneurs the means to build an income-generating business, and participating telecoms companies a way to expand their reach.
It would be  recalled that  IFC launched the programme in Nigeria in 2007, and expanded it to Madagascar and Malawi the following year
On the centennial of International Women’s Day held yesterday, Cherie Blair, Founder of the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, participated as special guest speaker at a ceremony at IFC’s headquarters.