THE UNSUNG WOMEN HEROES OF NIGERIA 2 by Ifeoma Nwobodo
https://37bloggers.blogspot.com/2016/04/the-unsung-women-heroes-of-nigeria-2-by.html
We started a discussion about certain stereotypes the Nigerian woman
is known for in the first part of this series. The average Nigerian
woman has demonstrated a hard working, tenacious, and ingenious nature.
Many have started and are leading very successful initiatives across the
country.
Most times, however, the works of these women are unnoticed. As I
said in my last article, I will find some of these women, especially
from the grassroots to highlight what they do and how these have
impacted on their communities. The young lady in today’s article is one
of such. Her initiative, which began after some personal experiences, is
recognized for having a real influence in the lives of indigent women
in her locality.
Nkem Christiana Okocha is a social entrepreneur and the founder of
Mamamoni, an initiative that empowers rural and urban slum women with
free vocational skills, helps them to embrace banking and thereafter
provide access to finance. She is passionate about uplifting poor women
out of poverty and to organizing empowerment programs, financial
inclusion and mobile money for them. Her mission is aptly captured in
the expression: “No woman chose to be poor, but we can choose to help
poor women by investing in them.”
Mamamoni empowers poor rural and urban slum women with
behavior-modification loans that impact on their ability to succeed in
their trade, in order to increase income of their households and become
financially independent. It is a chain reaction that impacts the lives
of the women even as they operate efficient, profitable businesses.
Essentially, it provides “mobile micro credit” to low income rural and
urban slum women.
