Women of Tari now have the backing of good banking at their disposal with the opening of Womens’ Micro Bank in Tari town, marking the 49th Independence anniversary.

Prime Minister Hon. James Marape and his wife, Mrs Rachael Marape who has been instrumental in the project today opened a Womens’ Micro Bank branch in the provincial capital, witnessed by Hela Governor, Hon. Phillip Undialu, leaders of the province, and representatives from the bank.

The initiative is a project partnership between Womens’ Micro Bank, Hela Provincial Government, and Hela Development Authority (DDA) through the provincial and district services programs, Prime Minister Marape said today.

This, he added, was to complement his government policy on financial empowerment of rural people through Small to Medium Enterprises (SME) development.

“Today, we opened the Tari branch of the Womens’ Micro Bank, launching a modern office here with facilities to accept deposits, facilitate withdrawals, and lend for businesses with lending from K300 to K500,000.

“Over 3,800 mothers are already trained to run small businesses and on how to use banking to support their SMEs,” he said.

Prime Minister Marape also acknowledged the work his wife has been doing over the last three years since she came up with the initiative to partner the bank (known colloquially as ‘Mama Bank’) to take financial literacy to the rural women of Tari, describing her as “showing strong leadership”.

Mrs Marape had earlier said what pushed her to reach out to Mama Bank was because she found out many women in the electorate were saving money by burying it in the ground or hiding it in the garden or house as they had little knowledge of banking or access to banking facilities within their means.

Part of her work was also facilitating a financial literacy program for the women so they could be taught on managing their monies, especially from selling their fresh produce in markets and semi-commercializing their subsistence living into mini SMEs.

So far, 3,800 women have already received training with many more women joining the program and trying to open accounts.

Governor Undialu added more support by pledging K1 million as equity.

“I am giving you our people of Hela K1 million as security for when you get a loan form the bank. So that if something bad happens, this money can be used to assist you,” he said.

The bank is primarily open to women of Tari but can also be accessed by the menfolk interested in exploring the SME space.

PM Marape concluded, “Today with the availability of funds from PNG LNG and Hela province, I encourage our people to go back to basics; to participate in the agriculture sector, or guest house, lodges, retail stores, and service station and other SMEs out there.

“I encourage the youth to return to productive living and work in this space, as per this Independence anniversary message of reconciliation, go back and work hard on your land. The opportunities are already here,” said Prime Minister Marape.