Who is Enat Bank?
Created by a group of Ethiopia’s leading businesswomen, Enat Bank was founded with the mission of empowering women through finance by supporting female entrepreneurs.
What is the challenge?
In Ethiopia, women own the majority of micro and small enterprises. However, the number of successful women entrepreneurs is much lower than the number of men. The reasons are due to challenges that women primarily face including limited access to finances, lack of knowledge on feasible business development, poor management and their need to shoulder household and family responsibilities.
How was it addressed?
Recognizing the role women play in stimulating social and economic development and the reduction of poverty, the bank established a separate financial unit for women in 2014. The unit is tasked with facilitating financial access and providing financial education for women focusing on the importance of saving and the basics of business management.
The first step taken by the new unit was developing the Enat Collateral Saving Account which provides loans to assist women to grow or start new businesses. The account is available for individuals or organisations to deposit specific amounts of money that are blocked for a period of time, during which the bank uses the money as a guarantee for women entrepreneurs. Furthermore, the bank provides these loans without requiring collateral; thus addressing a major problem that has traditionally prevented women entrepreneurs from receiving bank loans.
What were the outcomes?
The Collateral Saving Account garnered a lot of attention when it was first introduced with high-profile deposits from private and public sector leaders in the country. Ethiopia’s First Lady H.E. Wz. Roman Tesfaye became one of the first to embrace the programme and deposited ETB 100,000 (approx USD 5,000). Since the programme launch in December 2014, the Collateral Saving Account has received funds and pledges amounting to a total of ETB 5.6 Million (approx USD 272,000). A total of 97 female-owned businesses have been approved for loans totaling ETB 1.2 million (approx USD 58,000).
