Wajir women groups receive State loans

Wajir County Commissioner Jacob Narengo has urged women entrepreneurs from the county to take advantage of interest-free loans from the government. This, he said amid concerns over low uptake of loans.

Twenty women groups from the county on Monday received cheques worth Sh3.8 million from the Women Enterprise Fund (WEF) kitty.

The money is to be subdivided among various groups with each receiving an amount equivalent to its membership, among other factors.

Addressing journalists while issuing the cheques, Mr Narengo said the funds will empower women from the grassroots and give them capacity to be self-reliant.

He further appealed to them to ensure they invest the funds wisely and settle the loans on time.

Invest funds

“Once you get these funds, kindly make sure that you spend them in the intended projects and also pay it back on time so that other groups also benefit from it," he said.

The County security boss thanked the national government for the funds and called on more women to take more loans from the government for their own benefit.

Mr Samuel Obara, an official from the WEF said the loans are Sharia compliant hence, comes with zero interest.

He further said they were gradually realising an uptake of loans following increased sensitisation campaigns.

WEF was started in 2007 to provide cheap credit to women entrepreneurs, increase their capacity and provide market linkages for women-owned micro, small and medium enterprises as part of economic empowerment by the government.