The news that the Irish League of Credit Union’s (ILCU) international development arm has been awarded a two-year contract to develop the credit union movement in Ethiopia is a testament to the increasing importance of ‘microcredit’ in the developing world.
The contract awarded by the UN’s International Fund for Agricultural Development will allow the ILCU Foundation to help in fight poverty in Africa’s second most populous country by expanding access to financial services across rural areas that are home to some 85 per cent of Ethiopia’s 86.5 million people. It’s also expected that more than 500,000 in underprivileged rural households, especially women, would benefit by way of improved access to sustainable and flexible savings and loans services.
Welcoming the deal, Minister for Trade and Development Joe Costello pointed out that it positively reflects ongoing Government efforts to secure new business opportunities for Ireland.
Indeed, Metro Éireann believes that this contract furthers ILCU’s commitment to developing and supporting credit unions in developing countries. It has carried out similar work in Ghana and The Gambia, and also revived credit unions that were badly affected by civil wars in Liberia and Sierra Leone.
With its affordable loan system, we believe that millions of less privileged people across the developing world could benefit from the credit union system if made available to them. And we urge the Government to consider including the credit union movement as part of its Irish Aid programmes.
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