Giving Compass' Take:

• Women in Kenya are joining the Murang'a County Women SACCO (MCWS), a five-year savings and credit cooperative that funds women's projects in real estate. 

• How will having microcredit and becoming landlords help these women thrive?

• Read about the five ways that microloans can strengthen communities. 

Grace Ndegwa has been struggling to make ends since her husband died in 2003. With two sons to care for, Ndegwa spends her days working the one-acre parcel of land where she grows tea, coffee and vegetables. The proceeds from her farm in Murang’a County, 45 miles (72 km) from Nairobi, are hardly enough to feed her children and pay for their school fees.“I am always under pressure to raise enough money for my family. It has become more painful now my teenage boys are in high school and ask for money, which I don’t have,” she says.

Ndegwa is one of 25,000 members of the Murang’a County Women SACCO (MCWS), a five-year-old savings and credit cooperative that decided to break with tradition when it came to funding women’s businesses.  Instead of members putting their money into each others’ smallhold farms and personal enterprise, the traditional model for savings groups, MCWS decided to invest in real estate.

Collecting their savings, which were sometimes as little as $0.10 per day, the group’s members managed to raise $1 million to build a five-story apartment building.

“This building has created many opportunities for me,” Ndegwa says. “I will now be in a position to improve my credit worthiness and be able to access bigger loans from banks or SACCOs, which will help me invest into other income-generating ventures.”

To fill their 102-room apartment block, the women of MCWS are relying on Kenya’s booming university student population.

By making big investments and focusing on building sustainable livelihoods, the members of MCWS have been able to save money and access credit at affordable rates, benefits that few women in Kenya enjoy.

Read the full article about Kenyan women pooling cash by Benard Kimani at News Deeply.