AGS deepens women’s financial inclusion with co-operative scheme

Looking to deepen their mission of enabling the success of Nigerian and African women, Africa’s digital platform for women, AGS Tribe has unveiled the Herconomy Co-operative Multipurpose Society in an inaugural meeting which consisted of 21 founding members.

Launched in 2019 to connect women to each other and to economic opportunities such as grants, jobs and loans, the community has grown from a group of 100 women on Telegram to a well established organization with a mobile app with over 14,000 members.

Since then, over 80,000 women have been trained online and offline with dozens receiving grants to further their businesses and entrepreneurial pursuits.

Founder, AGS Tribe, Ife Durosinmi-Etti, said she noticed a gap in the empowerment of women, which is mostly financial, hence the birth of the Herconomy Cooperative Multipurpose Society.

The society was inaugurated over the weekend with 20 founding members. Speaking at the inauguration, Lagos State Cooperative officer, Opeoluwa Moshood, said that members need to have saved for at least six months, to be able to apply for loans within the cooperative,

Durosinmi-Etti told The Guardian that launching the cooperative was the first major step on a mission to owning a female-focused bank in Nigeria, where women can thrive and be empowered financially.

“We are honored that AGS Tribe is championing this movement. With this, more women will now be able to have access to financial facilities that would have been harder to access”, she added.

Secretary, Titi Awe, said the co-operative would impact even more women in Nigeria. “We are already a community with so many benefits, adding this to our already existing benefits within the community is mind-blowing.”

The 21 women in attendance represented the diversity of the tribe’s community members, as women from various walks of life, were ably represented. All the members signed the legal documents that made them part of the Herconomy Society and were all presented with inaugural certificates.

Durosinmi-Etti said the move marked a new chapter in the progress of their journey to create a wholesome economic financial institution to meet the needs of underserved females and create vast opportunities for growth for women in Nigeria, Africa and the world at large.

The newly inaugurated executives are Ife Durosinmi-Etti (Founding Partner AGS Tribe), Titilope Awe (secretary), Dolapo Sanusi Ola (treasurer), Tolu Adeniran (financial secretary) and Mojiasola Folarin-Lawal (assistant general secretary).