Banking on Women

Tanzania is banking on women: After five years of planning, a bank for the fairer sex opened its doors to the public Tuesday in Dar es Salaam.

The bank — the country’s 28th, but the first to cater to women — requires only a passport or ID card to open an account, as opposed to title deeds or other documents proving wealth, which women rarely have. Instead, the minimum requirement for an account is only 3,000 Tanzanian shillings, or about $2, reports the BBC.

Men can open accounts in the bank, although it will focus on women.

"It is a bank of its kind and for all," Margaret Sitta, Tanzania's minister for Community Development, Gender and Children told the country's The Capital newspaper, quoting the bank's slogan.

The BBC reported that 110 people had opened accounts by the end of the first morning of trading.

The government has backed the bank with 2 billion Tanzanian shillings (about $1.5 million). Here's to hoping this investment in women pays off.