Metshelo Micro-Lending Schemes: Weaning Women from Patriarchal Milk, 2022

Abstract

The motshelo informal micro-lending schemes are gaining momentum. Their “business wave” has hit Botswana, with everyone talking business on social media platforms. The buzz word “add me” in metshelo WhatsApp groups created for the empowerment of one another is dominating the airwaves. How do metshelo provide women with start-up cash for running business projects, thus weaning women from dependence on patriarchal milk? In this paper, I will explore how metshelo schemes, have become women-centered movements for the empowerment of women by other women and how they reconstruct gender. The paper will explore how contemporary metshelo are also being tailored to meet the current needs and lifestyle of today’s women as identifiable in the new trend called “showers.” The paper will investigate how metshelo are becoming women’s networks that wean women from dependence on males. The approach uses desktop research and social network theory.