Published: October 9, 2026
ROBERTSPORT, Grand Cape Mount County — Women’s savings groups in Grand Cape Mount County’s Commonwealth District are lending out their Liberia Women Empowerment Project grants at interest, turning a one-time payment into a pool of credit that members say is financing small businesses, school fees and food.
By Emmanuel Degleh
In Robertsport, one group has already earned 216,000 Liberian dollars in interest on its first grant installment of about 720,000 Liberian dollars, and the money has stayed within the group to be lent again.
“We made a special box for our Ministry of Gender money,” said Tarlor Kennedy, chairlady of Dependable Women One, which keeps the project funds separate from its members’ ordinary savings.
The grants come through the Liberia Women Empowerment Project, or LWEP, implemented by the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection with support from the World Bank and partners including Plan Liberia. Under its third component, the project funds Village Savings and Loan Associations and promotes resilient livelihoods through community-led approaches.
Each participating group is expected to receive US$8,000 in two installments. The first US$4,000, equivalent to about 720,000 Liberian dollars, has been distributed, and a second US$4,000 is expected after three months.
Rather than treating the grants as handouts to be shared out, several groups have set up revolving loan systems. Members borrow the money, repay it with interest and the capital passes to the next borrower. Women who previously struggled to raise capital have used the loans to start or expand dry-fish trading, petty shops and sales of cold water and soft drinks.
Kennedy said Dependable Women One, established in 2021, was already running a savings and lending system before the project arrived. The group decided to lend the project money only to members with a record of repaying earlier loans.
The group normally lends between 20,000 and 300,000 Liberian dollars at 10% interest, with up to three months to repay. Kennedy said repayment can be hard during the rainy season, when some businesses see sales fall.
She said the first round of lending from the project funds reached 11 women and a second round reached about 20. Three rounds of interest on the project money produced the 216,000 Liberian dollars that remained with the group, Kennedy said.
For some borrowers, the loans have meant more than business capital. One woman said she invested her loan in the dry-fish trade and used the proceeds to pay her children’s school fees and buy food for her family.
Amie Sesay, chairlady of Karmalamurkor, said the support has been especially important for women raising children without regular financial help from a partner.
Beneficiaries were also trained in small-business management, financial record-keeping, climate-resilient livelihoods and responsible use of project funds. They were told not to use the grants for charcoal production, gasoline sales or alcohol sales.
Sao Kromah, chairlady of Eat Some and Keep Some, said the training covered climate-smart farming, including soil management, crop rotation and the use of decomposed vegetation to restore soil fertility. She said some women have begun applying the techniques in their gardens.
The women spoke Tuesday during a World Bank technical review field visit to Tosor Community. The visit brought together the World Bank mission, the LWEP Project Management Unit, county authorities, community leaders, implementing partners and beneficiaries, who observed savings group meetings, livelihood groups and individual businesses supported by the project.
The delegation also held a community dialogue with beneficiaries, grievance redress committee members, farmer-based organizations, health service providers, community-based agents and local government representatives.
Project officials said the visit was not an audit but a chance to hear directly from communities about what is working, what is not and what they recommend.
Project Lead Abdulai Sheriff said LWEP is a five-year initiative expected to run through June 2027. He said it is being implemented in 498 communities [CONFIRM: draft says “in six countries, including Liberia”] and is expected to reach about 267,200 people, with total financing estimated at US$44.6 million, of which US$18 million is earmarked for grants.
Beyond savings and lending, the project covers community governance, grievance redress, gender-based violence prevention and response, climate resilience, good agricultural practices, girls’ education and capacity-building for women-led businesses.
In Commonwealth District, Grievance Redress Committees give beneficiaries a channel to raise complaints. A member of a local committee said members were trained to receive complaints, hear the parties, document cases and work with community leaders to settle disputes before they escalate.
For the women of Commonwealth District, the second installment will add fresh capital to funds that are already circulating. Members say the revolving loans are keeping their businesses running, their families fed and their children in school, while building up the savings groups that lend to them.
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