Fri Asanga : Helping Women Understand Budgeting, Cash Flow

Her journey in financial inclusion for women started some two decades ago when she was working with a non-governmental organisation which was an implementing partner for the rural decentralised credit project of the Ministry of Agriculture. At that time, Fri Asanga realised that women were not benefiting as much as their male counterparts. At that point, she and her partners built on the traditional loan and savings system that women are comfortable with known as “Njangis” to create what was called Association des Femmes Adherents de la Caisse (AFAC). 
Through “Njangi”, Asanga encouraged women to form groups of maximum 10 women. The members of these groups were then able to obtain loans based on their mutual solidarity caution, thus boosting access to loans by women. This is how Fri Asanga, a Financial and Gender Inclusion Expert has paved the way in ensuring that 7,350 women in Cameroon gain access to money needed for their different projects. 
Mindful of the fact that women today dominate the agricultural sector;  the nation’s  most important sector, Fri Asanga says female farmers are unable to invest in contemporary technologies to increase their productivity due to lack of finance and other endogenic and exogenic factors. Although the government is making efforts to alleviate the economic status of women through diverse and concerted actions, much still needs to be done for women to have access to loans to guarantee the growth and sustainability of their businesses. Asanga laments that women are usually not well informed about the opportunities that are available for them. Also, traditional norms ...