Microloans for Malawian Women: An Interview with Tango Phiri

Orant Charities Africa believes female entrepreneurs will shape and define local marketplaces, paving the way for lasting social change. Our Financially Empowering Microloans for Women Program (FEM) gives women the financial and social tools to succeed in operating small-businesses. This year, Orant recruited its third FEM cohort. The program now supports 38 women total. We interviewed Tango Phiri, FEM Program Manager, to learn more.
It has been wonderful to see women empowered financially. It’s exciting to see women buying and owning assets, educating their children, and most importantly, being able to feed their families.
Because of our FEM Program’s no-interest microloans, small businesses are launching and blossoming. It’s exciting to see our women entrepreneurs practicing business skills acquired through our training.
The lack of women’s financial freedom and inclusion still persists in rural Malawi. Culturally, it is believed that men have all the autonomy when it comes to making financial decisions. Hence, most decisions at the household level are made by the husbands. Women are at the receiving end. We try to challenge these roles by conducting awareness campaigns and training centered on financial inclusion
We plan to incorporate at least 10% men in the program to ensure gender inclusion. We also plan to continue training communities in gender mainstreaming and financial inclusion.
Attaining women’s empowerment is a hustle, especially in Africa. This is due to high illiteracy levels, exclusion in decision making, gender based violence, and lack of access to resources. Gender roles have long defined our way of life.
I get to work in a program that is specifically designed to empower women. Knowing that we are really making a difference is a privilege.
At Orant Charities, collaboration is one of the values we take seriously. We believe that there is no better way to learn, explore, make an impact, and utilize resources than collaborating with communities, individuals, and organizations. Last week, we took a major step in collaboration by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Opulence Malawi, an organization making a difference in the lives of people in Traditional Authority Chakhaza, Dowa district. This partnership is a significant milestone for us, and we are excited to share what this means to us and the communities we serve. To learn more about what this partnership means to us and what we envision from it, read our latest blog article.
We are overjoyed to announce that 12 of our 29 students who sat for the Malawi School Certificate of Examinations have been selected to various universities! As we celebrate this milestone, we would like to share biographies of some of the students.
Early this week, we celebrated Esther Maupa’s graduation from Mwimba College of Agriculture! As promised, today we are sharing her full story of how she overcame challenges and achieved success! Read our latest blog article to get inspired by Esther’s journey!