With funding from CIDA, the Nyèsigiso savings and credit union network contributes to Mali's efforts to reduce poverty. It aims to improve the living conditions of the poor by providing access to financial services.

Ségou is Mali's third-largest city. A new building houses one of a network of Nyèsigiso savings and credit unions. Nyèsigiso means “house of providence” in Bambara, the language of nearly 60 percent of Mali's population. Farmers, fishers, merchants, artists, and students thus have access to fully secure banking services. “The building gives visibility and credibility to the savings and credit union, and confidence to our members,” explains Fodé Bah, the Ségou branch manager of the Nyèsigiso savings and credit union network. “The premises used to be too small and unsuited for the purpose. Merchants were afraid of thieves!”

The Nyèsigiso Network Support Project receives support from CIDA and its Quebec-based partner, Développement international Desjardins. The project contributes to Mali's efforts to reduce poverty. By providing access to financial services, the project aims to improve the living conditions of the poor, especially women.

Ségou is home to Mali's second-largest savings and credit union network. Nearly 30 percent of its members are women. “And the number keeps growing!” says Fodé Bah.

The project promotes gender equality by enhancing the image of women. It gives women access to a credit system designed to meet their needs. It gives them access to jobs within the savings and credit union network.

Thanks to the network, women are making economic gains. They are building their capacity to act. They are playing a more key role in civil society. They are improving their family's well-being. The Ségou office even sends facilitators into the field to make women more aware of family planning, the importance of proper nutrition, and the prevention of AIDS and malaria.

The Nyèsigiso network has become one of Mali's largest. It has achieved better-than-hoped-for results: 26 savings and credit unions, 123,566 members, 5.3 billion CFAF (African Financial Community francs, or about C$11.4 million) in savings, 5.7 billion CFAF (about C$12.2 million), and 8.1 billion CFAF in assets (about C$17.5 million). Thanks to a large-scale reconfiguration program, the network should soon achieve financial self-sufficiency and be fully managed by local staff.