credit cooperative such COOPEDU run by a women’s association “Duterimbere”. 82. Women are increasingly moving to the formal business sector as in the Fiscal Year 2014-2015, 4,225 women with bankable and feasible projects accessed loans amounting to a total of Rwf 1,383,361,996 Billion and grants worth of Rwf 208,098,898 Million through Business Development Fund (BDF). The number of new accounts opened in Micro-financing Institutions by women increased by 5.9% from 987,421 to 1,045,993 (58,572 new female Accounts were opened). The number of Women who acquired loans increased from 48,618 to 49,256 (638 new women accessed loans equivalent to 1.3 percent increase), while the number of men who opened new accounts also increased from 1,370,037 to 1,440,791(70754 new men opened accounts equivalent to 5.4 percentage increase). 83. The Government has also prioritized the financial inclusion of women and youth through the village Credit and Saving Scheme (Umurenge SACCO), which has greatly improved women’s livelihood and their economic independence. It is envisaged that by 2017, at least 50% of borrowers in SACCO and Micro-finance Institutions will be women. An additional role of this Umurenge SACCO is to build the savings and credit habit at the grassroots level and improve proximity of financial services for women and elderly people. 84. All these achievements are supported by Government policies that promote gender equality and the empowerment of women including: the National Gender Policy (2010), the Long-term investment framework (LTIF) which recognizes gender equality as an essential cross-cutting dimension to be mainstreamed into all investment programmes. The Private Sector Federation has also established a specific chamber for the promotion of women in business and trade. 85. Business services and training of women in business skills and business management are provided by different institutions such as the BDF and the Business Incubation Centers (BIC), which have been established countrywide. They provide business services and capacity building in business management for women and youth. Page 91 of 105