Women Transforming Financial Services Sector

                                 

There has been a growing interest and talk around the topic of cooperative banking in the last couple of years. The number of young people that have an interest in the cooperative banking sector gives me hope for the future of this country and the financial services sector in particular.

I have seen dozens of posts about this topic on social media and have followed a number of those posts with keen interest. A post about Basadi Cooperative Financial Institution (BCFI) on Facebook got me very excited, I immediately contacted one of the founders because I had no doubt that there was a story behind their journey that everyone including myself needed to hear. I was thrilled when Nqobile L Ndlovu agreed to my request and told us about the BCFI story.

Read more about BCFI in the Q&A piece below.

CM: What is a co-op bank is and how is it different to conventional banks?

NN:A co-operative bank is a financial institution wholly owned by its members with open and       voluntary membership to all within an accepted common bond of association. It is a democratically owned institution with each member enjoying equal rights to vote and more importantly it’s about people helping themselves, pool their resources together in order to serve its members.

"We want to see more women participating in the financial sector of the country and in male dominated industries."

CM: When and how was the Idea conceived?

NN: The idea was conceived in March 2017 when myself (Nqobile Ledisi Ndlovu) and my partner (Nqobile R Ndlovu) got together to start a property business. Our initial idea was to get into the student and household residential business, but during our discussion meeting one evening, we both thought it would be good to involve other women since we all know the construction and property industry is male dominated. We thought this project would allow women to get involved in the property and construction industry and also claim their piece of this pie. This is when we approached a lawyer friend of ours who then opened our eyes to the world of cooperative banking. We took it upon ourselves to do more research on cooperatives and co-op banking. This led the decision to actually form a cooperative bank that will be governed by women. This bank will be funded by its shareholders . We look to invest in other businesses, give out business loans at low rates and more of what we will be offering will be revealed in due time. We encourage more women to take part in these types of initiatives and opportunities. South Africa is talking about Radical Economic Transformation and the only way to be part of it is to participate. Let us take it upon ourselves to change our lives and secure our future and our children’s children’s future. .

CM: Who are the people behind this Idea, the people that got the ball rolling?

NN: Nqobile Ledisi Ndlovu the interim chairperson and Nqobile R Ndlovu the interim Deputy Chair and NO we are not related at all.

CM: What is your mission and objective?

NN: Our mission is to form an institution that will be owned by its members for it members, bringing together black South Africans for the development and strengthening of their own economy. More importantly we want to see more women (especially black women) participating in the financial sector of the country and in male dominated industries. We also want to assist in reducing poverty by mobilising funds and increasing employment in the country.

CM: Who is your target market?

NN:Currently we are targeting women, women who can be shareholders of the cooperative. We are not leaving men behind, we will allow them at a later stage.

CM: Any Idea how many jobs you will Create in the first year of operation?

NN: We cannot say for sure, but we know the institution will need a lot of hands for admin purposes. We are looking at employing ladies to handle admin and at the end of our first year of operation more people will be employed for our first investment project.

CM: How much work is left before the bank becomes operational?

NN: A lot, Its currently just Nqobile and I working on the formation of this bank.

CM: How has the journey been between now and the time the idea was conceived?

NN: Nothing beats seeing a dream growing into something tangible, something that you can now see and feel, this is how I feel about BCFI. The amount of hard work we put every day into this project will pay off. From early morning and evening meetings, endless spending, sleepless nights, nerves and more… we have never doubted the power of this idea.

From the time of the conception of this idea, we were highly concerned with how people would receive us, "two young black girls trying their luck" nevertheless because we believed so much in this project we conducted as much research as possible and dived into it. Through our first interaction with our potential shareholders we realized that people more especially women are ready for change, and just need to be given direction as to how that change will come about, and we truly believe BCFI is the answer.

CM: What are your future plans for this business?

NN: We definitely see BCFI as a mutual bank in the future.

CM: Where will the business be based?

NN: Charity begins at home, it has to be Durban. We are aware of the people in Johannesburg who have been asking for us to come present to them. We are coming.

"South Africa is talking about Radical Economic Transformation and the only way to be part of it is to participate."

CM: What can we expect in the first year of operation?

NN: Honestly, we cannot say. What I know is building a sustainable business is not a walk in the park. Our first year will definitely be more about laying a solid foundation, working on a strong internal body for shareholder satisfaction more than anything.

CM: Any other information or upcoming events you may want to share?

NN: On the 17th Feb 2018 we are hosting our second and final presentation at Howard College UKZN. If people would like to come they can RSVP by sending an email to enquiries@basadicfi.co.za

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