Mwakirunge women benefit from financial literacy training

Equity Bank’s Mary Gatonye, Joseph Mwadzombo and Adil Maawy at the bank’s Bamburi branch on Thursday / BRIAN OTIENO

Mwakirunge women get financial training from Equity Bank in Mwakirunge on Thursday / BRIAN OTIENO

Mwakirunge women get financial training from Equity Bank in Mwakirunge on Thursday / BRIAN OTIENOSerah Kazungu, 37, has scavenged at the Mwakirunge dumpsite for a living for the better part of her life.

She was introduced to the trade when she was 12 years old by her mother.

“It was like she was preparing me for life on my own because barely a year after she introduced me, she died,” Kazungu told the Star on the phone.

She scavenges through the dumpsite for anything valuable, turning some of the food she finds into her daily meals while collecting plastics for sale.

On a good day, she makes about Sh1,000 from plastics, but on most occasions she averages Sh500.

However, she still finds it hard to balance her earnings with financial obligations, including educating her two children, buying clothes and other necessities.

Kazungu believes this will soon be a thing of the past.

She is among more than 300 women from Mwakirunge in Kisauni, Mombasa, who benefited from financial literacy training offered by Equity Bank this week.

“I had never known or bothered to know about planning my finances professionally. I used to buy things out of the blue because I thought they were necessary,” she said.

“Now, with the training, I realise I have been wasting a lot of money. I know better now.”

Her best friend Zawadi Charo believes her business will now flourish following the training.

Like Kazungu, Charo did not know how to manage her finances professionally.

She used money earned from selling food at the Mwakirunge dumpsite for all her needs, never bothering to separate business funds from personal expenditure.

“I was always running short of cash and had to borrow money to pump into my business, yet every day I sold all the food I prepared,” Charo said.

Now, she has realised she ran her business incorrectly and never saved anything.

“Together with my family, we used to live hand-to-mouth not because we did not make money, but because we did not plan,” she said.

Mary Gatonye, Equity Bank Bamburi branch business growth and development manager, said on Thursday the Endeleza Biashara programme is an initiative meant to support micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

It is designed to empower entrepreneurs, startups and growing businesses.

“We realise that we have more than 1,000 people in the Mwakirunge dumpsite area working on recycling materials, and they do not have mechanisms to manage their finances.

“For the last two days, we have been training them on how they can better recycle those materials, form groups and see how they can access funding for income-generating projects,” Gatonye said.

She said Mwakirunge residents have embraced the training, especially young men, most of whom lack formal education.

Already, several groups, including Jitegemea Group, have been trained on budgeting, operating businesses profitably, separating household and business budgets and saving part of their profits.

“We realised that most of those who sell materials from the dumpsite use the entire revenue for personal needs, including medication and food, without saving even a single shilling,” Gatonye said.

She said that is why it is important to sensitise them on separating business funds from personal funds to keep their enterprises afloat.

“We advise them on what to use for household needs and what to set aside as business capital,” Gatonye said.

She said most Mwakirunge residents have lagged behind and lack collateral, but through financial literacy training, they have realised they can work together to access credit without traditional security.

“The group acts as security and the authority comes from the education we have given to empower them,” Gatonye said.

She said attendance exceeded expectations. While they targeted 100 people on Wednesday, 120 attended the first day of training.

“The next day, young mothers and young families came on board, and we also saw the elderly attending our training because they feel they still have time to secure their livelihoods,” Gatonye said.

She said their long-term goal is to empower Mwakirunge residents to establish their own recycling plant.

Equity Bank Nyali branch manager Adil Maawy said the institution is leveraging technology to deliver faster services to clients and decongest banking halls.

“We have digital services like Boostika, where a client is prequalified and can access financial services without necessarily visiting a banking hall,” Maawy said.

He explained that clients only need to download the application or open an account via USSD code *247#, after which they can access financial services based on account activity.

Maawy said mobile loans have significantly helped small-scale traders who often find it difficult to leave their business premises to seek credit in banking halls.

“From the comfort of their workplaces, they can still obtain micro-loans to boost their businesses,” the Nyali branch manager said.

He noted, however, that digital innovations will not eliminate banking halls, as certain services still require physical visits to branch offices.  

Financial literacy training equips individuals and businesses with essential skills to manage money effectively, avoid costly mistakes, and build long-term security. It teaches one how to track income, control expenses, and live within one’s means rather than overspending.