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Trkiye’s Central Bank seen holding rates as easing outlook looms

The wait for the Central Bank of the Republic of Trkiye’s (CBRT) September 2026 interest rate decision is coming to an end. With the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) set to hold its September meeting, markets are closely watching whether the policy rate will be changed. When will the central bank announce its interest rate decision, and what time will it be released? What will the CBRT’s September 2026 interest rate decision be? Will there be a rate cut? Here is what is known about the central bank’s upcoming decision.

The critical day has arrived for the CBRT’s September Monetary Policy Committee meeting. Ahead of the decision, which is being closely followed by financial markets, attention has turned to whether the central bank will make any changes to its policy rate.

Among the questions attracting the most attention ahead of the decision are: ‘When will the central bank announce its interest rate decision? What time will the CBRT announce its decision? Will there be an interest rate cut in September?’ Here are the details surrounding the central bank’s decision.

According to the CBRT’s 2026 meeting calendar, the Monetary Policy Committee’s September meeting will be held on Thursday, September 10, 2026.

The summary of the MPC meeting is scheduled to be published on September 17, 2026.

The CBRT Monetary Policy Committee will hold its September 2026 meeting on Thursday, September 10. The interest rate decision taken at the meeting will be announced to the public at 2 p.m.

As a result, the September policy rate decision that markets have been awaiting for some time will become clear today.

Economists’ expectations for the interest rate decision had also emerged ahead of the September meeting. A total of 25 economists participated in an expectations survey conducted by Anadolu Agency Finance.

According to the survey, 24 economists expect the policy rate to remain unchanged at 37%, while one economist forecasts a 100-basis-point rate cut, which would bring the policy rate down to 36%.

The median expectation in the survey is for the CBRT to keep its policy rate unchanged at 37% in September.

The median of economists’ year-end policy rate expectations was calculated at 35%.

At its Monetary Policy Committee meeting in July, the central bank left the policy rate unchanged. The policy rate was maintained at 37%.

At the same meeting, the overnight lending rate was kept at 40%, while the borrowing rate remained at 35.5%.

The decision to be taken at the September meeting is also being closely monitored for its implications for the CBRT’s monetary policy during the remainder of the year.

Ahead of the September meeting, the majority of economists expect the policy rate to remain unchanged. Therefore, based on the current market expectations, no interest rate cut is anticipated in September.

However, the final decision will be announced following the Monetary Policy Committee meeting. The CBRT’s decision on the policy rate will be announced at 2 p.m.

The CBRT’s 2026 Monetary Policy Committee calendar includes two more meetings following the September meeting: October 22, 2026 and December 10, 2026.

The summary of the October 22 meeting is scheduled to be published on October 30, while the summary of the December 10 meeting is scheduled for publication on December 17.

The CBRT’s decisions during the remainder of the year will be closely monitored for the direction of the policy rate and market expectations regarding interest rates.

’Nobody offered me Atiku’s VP slot’ – Obi

Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential flagbearer, Peter Obi, has rubbished claims that he snubbed a joint 2027 ticket with Atiku Abubakar, revealing that no running-mate offer was ever placed on the table

Obi said he was never in a position where such an offer was made to him, insisting that he had not turned down any vice-presidential arrangement with Atiku.

Speaking during an interview on Arise Television’s Morning Show, Obi was asked to clarify reports that he refused to run as Atiku’s vice-presidential candidate.

Responding, he said:

‘Who said so? Where? I wasn’t even in any party where that offer was on the table. I wasn’t even in a position where it was being offered and I refused.’

The NDC candidate explained that the political situation had moved beyond individual negotiations, saying any possible alliance ahead of the 2027 election would involve political parties rather than personal decisions.

According to Obi, both he and Atiku are currently presidential candidates of different parties, making any discussion about collaboration a broader political issue.

‘Where we are now is that I’m a candidate, my leader Atiku is a candidate of another party, so you are talking about two parties coming together.’

He compared possible political negotiations to a corporate merger, arguing that it was no longer a matter of two individuals simply deciding to work together.

‘It’s like a situation where you have two corporations coming together. It’s no longer two CEOs going for a drink and saying, ‘We are going to work together.”

Obi had previously clarified that he never stated he would accept a vice-presidential role to anyone ahead of the 2027 election, while maintaining that he was open to working with people committed to rebuilding Nigeria.

The 2027 presidential race has continued to generate speculation over possible opposition alliances, with political actors discussing potential collaborations ahead of the election.

Bhumjaithai slams march to pressure EC on Senate case

The Bhumjaithai Party (BJT) has questioned the appropriateness of People’s Party (PP) leader Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut leading a march to pressure the Election Commission (EC) ahead of its decision on the alleged collusion in the 2024 Senate election.

Mr Natthaphong, also the opposition leader, has invited supporters to join an 11-kilometre march on Sunday from the iLaw office to the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre, one day before the EC is expected to reach a final decision in the case.

The PP and its allies, including NGO group iLaw, have demanded the EC prosecute all 229 suspects identified in the case.

Suphachai Jaismut, a Bhumjaithai list-MP, on Wednesday questioned whether a party leader should organise a public demonstration to pressure an independent organisation before it makes a ruling. He said criticism of the EC and calls for transparency were legitimate, as was peaceful assembly, but questioned whether the march was appropriate if its purpose was to influence the outcome of the case.

“Cases must be decided by the law and the evidence, not by public sentiment or political pressure,” Mr Suphachai said, adding party leaders should respect the rule of law.

He also raised the possibility of a similar situation arising if pressure were later brought to bear on the courts in a case involving 44 former Move Forward Party (MFP) MPs facing an ethics investigation. The MFP is the immediate precursor to the PP.

Siripong Angkasakulkiat, a BJT MP and deputy transport minister, said the opposition had sought to pressure the EC over the Senate case, including a previous exercise activity held outside its headquarters.

Mr Siripong also questioned who would benefit if the EC acted against the senators, suggesting reserve senators could gain from such an outcome. He urged the public to consider whose interests the campaign ultimately served.

Meanwhile, a group calling itself the National Thai People’s Assembly, together with Senate candidates from Group 17 in Nakhon Pathom, petitioned the EC and National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) over two election commissioners, Anan Suwannarat and Narong Rakroi.

They called for the two commissioners to be excluded from deliberations on the Senate case, arguing that they were selected by senators who are themselves under investigation for alleged election fraud.

Accreditation: Fed Govt threatens revocation of licences of errant varsities, others

The Federal Government has warned heads of tertiary institutions against manipulating accreditation processes, saying compromising officials risk losing their jobs.

It added that private institutions involved in such acts could have their operating licences revoked.

Education Minister Tunji Alausa issued the warning while inaugurating the Ministerial Committee on Strengthening the Accreditation and Quality Assurance System for Tertiary Institutions in Abuja yesterday.

He, however, revealed that the government would soon deploy technology to transform accreditation from a predominantly manual and periodic exercise into a digital, data-driven and continuously verifiable system.

Alausa said the government would no longer tolerate institutions presenting inflated, misleading or temporary records of their academic capacity to accreditation teams.

He stressed that approved standards must be maintained throughout the year.

The minister stated that the consequences of poor accreditation were already evident in the difficulty employers face in finding qualified graduates from Nigerian tertiary institutions.

Alausa stated: ‘People say they want to hire engineers. They will have 500 candidates, but they wouldn’t be able to get two, three, four or five qualified applicants. That’s the damage we’re doing to this university.

‘But guess what? This Ministry of Education is not going to let this continue. Other presidents, other governments may have allowed this to continue, but we are not going to let this continue.

‘And at the end of this, there will be consequences. You will go and represent the others, and your institution will lose its standing.

‘The world will put the consequences in place. You will lose your job if you don’t act on time. Private institutions will lose their licences.’

He also announced plans to end the practice of institutions temporarily borrowing academic staff members, equipment and other facilities from other institutions in order to meet accreditation requirements.

Alausa said accreditation processes must reflect the actual and sustainable capacity of an institution rather than a temporary arrangement put together ahead of an accreditation visit.

‘An institution should not be able to prepare a temporary picture of itself simply for an accreditation visit.

‘Sadly, this is what persists in the majority of instances,’ the minister said.

Alausa also said the Federal Government would tackle the practice of temporarily moving academic and non-academic personnel between institutions or presenting them for accreditation before returning them to their original institutions.

He stated that the same measures would apply to laboratory equipment, workshop resources, library materials and other facilities temporarily borrowed or presented solely for accreditation purposes.

‘Whatever an accreditation team sees and verifies must represent the institution’s genuine and sustainable capacity,’ he said.

He stated that the National Universities Commission(NUC), National Board for Technical Education and National Commission for Colleges of Education had critical roles to play in protecting the quality of tertiary education.

‘An institution should not meet prescribed standards only when the NUC, NBTE or NCCE accreditation team is expected to visit. Those standards should be met every day of the year,’ Alausa said.

On the planned deployment of technology for the accreditation process, the minister said: ‘With a robust digital accreditation platform, much of the institutional information required for accreditation can be continuously maintained and periodically verified.

‘Before an accreditation team arrives, the accrediting agency should already have reliable information on institutional staffing, facilities, laboratories, workshops and other equipment.

‘The physical visit will remain important, but it should increasingly serve to validate verified data rather than begin the verification process from scratch.’

Alausa directed the committee to develop mechanisms for verifying the authenticity and continuous availability of academic and non-academic staff members presented for accreditation.

The committee is also expected to establish systems for verifying the ownership, functionality, adequacy, accessibility and sustained availability of facilities and equipment presented by institutions.

The minister called for the use of geospatial mapping, geotagging and appropriate digital identification technologies for physical infrastructure, laboratories, workshops and major equipment.

‘Critical equipment presented for accreditation should be capable of being digitally identified and linked to a specific institution and physical location,’ he said.

He also advocated a comprehensive digital identity management and staff verification framework to establish the presence and institutional affiliation of personnel presented for accreditation.

Alausa said collaboration with the National Identity Management Commission should be explored to utilise the National Identification Number, alongside appropriate use of Bank Verification Number infrastructure and other secure technologies.

He said the framework would establish the principle of ‘one individual, one verifiable identity and an accurately declared institutional affiliation’ while detecting cases where an individual was improperly presented as full-time personnel in multiple institutions.

The minister also expressed concern over illegal admissions into tertiary institutions, saying such admissions had run into hundreds of thousands.

He blamed the situation partly on the tolerance of irregularities under previous administrations but assured Nigerians that the President Bola Tinubu administration would no longer allow such practices to continue.

Chairman of the committee and former Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, Prof Is-haq Oloyede, pledged the committee’s commitment to addressing abuses in the accreditation process.

Oloyede said accreditation should not be treated as an exercise for which institutions temporarily prepare, stressing that continuous monitoring was necessary to ensure standards were maintained beyond accreditation visits.

11 charged, remanded over Nakasero State Lodge trespass

Eleven people have been charged with criminal trespass and remanded to Luzira Prison for allegedly remaining at Nakasero State Lodge with intent to intimidate or annoy Special Forces Command (SFC) soldiers on duty.

The accused appeared before Buganda Road Chief Magistrate Ritah Neumbe Kidasa on Thursday where the charge was read to them. They denied the charges.

Prosecution, led by State Attorney Ayub Kamba, told court investigations are complete and asked for a hearing date.

“Investigations in the matter are complete. We pray that court gives us a hearing date,” Kamba told court.

The magistrate subsequently remanded the accused until September 23, 2026, when they are expected to return for hearing and bail applications.

The accused are Okello Stephen, 31, a teacher; Kigozi Iddi, 34, a manufacturer of school chalk and paint; Muhaise Joan, 32, a businesswoman; Tumuramye Robert Bayiga, 50, a social scientist; and Nakamya Fatiah, 35, a businesswoman.

Others are Tumutegyereza Onesmas, 37, a businessman; Owomugisha Yasin, 33, a businessman and parliamentary aspirant for Ruhinda County; Twikirize Esther, 32, a student; Musiimenta Cledonia, 47, a former district councillor and student; Arituha Caroline, 32, unemployed; and Seth Muyambi, 40, a former parliamentary contestant for Mbarara City South.

Prosecution alleges that on September 9, 2026, at State Lodge Nakasero in Kampala District, the 11 and others still at large, having lawfully entered the premises, remained there with intent to intimidate or annoy SFC soldiers on duty.

They are charged under Section 282(b) of the Penal Code Act, Cap 128.

According to the charge sheet, the accused come from different parts of Wakiso, Kampala, Mbarara, Rukungiri and Ibanda districts.

Azeri Light oil price rises above $113 per barrel

The price of Azerbaijan’s Azeri Light crude oil has risen above $113 per barrel on a CIF basis at Italy’s Augusta port.

According to information provided by oil market participants, the price of Azeri Light increased by $5.14, or 4.75%, compared with the previous indicator, reaching $113.32 per barrel.

On an FOB basis at Turkiye’s Ceyhan port, the price of Azeri Light rose by $4.88, or 4.65%, to $109.87 per barrel.

Meanwhile, the price of Russian Urals crude increased by $3.65, or 4.45%, to $85.60 per barrel.

The price of North Sea Dated Brent also rose significantly, increasing by $5.58, or 5.13%, to $114.26 per barrel.

At $113.32 per barrel on a CIF basis at Augusta, Azeri Light was trading $0.94 below Dated Brent, while its Ceyhan FOB price was $4.39 below the benchmark.

The Azerbaijani state budget for 2026 was calculated based on an average oil price of $65 per barrel.

U-20 W’Cup: Ambassador Ohakim Motivates Falconets Before Must-Win Clash With China

Nigeria’s Ambassador to Poland, Mrs Chioma Ohakim, has charged the women’s U-20 national team, the Falconets, to put behind them their opening day loss to Spain and focus on today’s crucial group match against China.

The Falconets suffered a 0-2 defeat to former champions Spain in their first match at the 2026 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Poland on Monday.

According to a statement by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Ambassador Ohakim and mission staff watched the match at the Stadion Sosnowiec and did their best to encourage the team.

Following the final whistle, she interacted with the players and technical crew, reminding them that they played good football and urging them to stay confident.

To lift their spirits and make the squad feel at home, Ambassador Ohakim also brought Nigerian food for the players-a gesture the NFF noted provided a timely morale boost as the team turns its attention to China.

The two-time silver medalists return to the Stadion Sosnowiec pitch this evening for a high-stakes encounter. The Chinese team enters the match highly motivated after a 5-0 victory over New Caledonia in their opener, placing them atop Group F ahead of 2022 champions Spain on goal difference.

Nigeria and China have met twice previously at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup finals. In 2006 (Russia), China defeated the Falconets 3-0 in the group stage at the Podmoskovie Stadium.

In 2018 (France), a late own goal by a Chinese defender secured a 1-1 draw for Nigeria in Dinan-Léhon, sending the Falconets through to the quarter-finals.

Coach Moses Aduku said on Wednesday night: ‘We have put the match against Spain behind us and focussing totally on the clash with China. The players are ready to come out stronger for the match against China.’

Nigeria moves industrial policy to execution as manufacturers seek cheaper credit

Nigeria’s Industrial Revolution Working Group (IRWG) has moved into an implementation phase for the National Industrial Policy, with industry stakeholders calling for cheaper long-term financing to translate the policy into higher production and investment.

At its technical session in Lagos on Thursday, themed ‘From Technical Consensus to Policy Reality: Advancing the IRWG Execution Mandate After the Launch of the Nigerian Industrial Policy,’ the group identified affordable financing as a major condition for achieving the country’s industrial targets.

Segun Kadir, Director-General of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), said lending rates of about 35 percent were undermining manufacturers’ ability to invest and expand.

He described the rates as ‘suicidal’ for productivity and growth, compared with about 8 percent in Benin Republic and Cameroon.

‘Capital is priced out of industry. We are crowded out,’ Kadir said.

The IRWG is seeking single-digit interest rates for manufacturers and a long-term financing framework involving the Central Bank of Nigeria, Bank of Industry (BOI) and other development finance institutions.

The group also wants greater use of credit guarantees, risk-sharing arrangements and on-lending structures to expand access to industrial finance.

The push comes as the National Industrial Policy targets an increase in manufacturing’s contribution to gross domestic product (GDP) to 25 percent. MAN currently puts manufacturing’s contribution at 7.72 percent.

The financing gap remains significant. BOI’s managing director, Olasupo Olusi said Nigeria requires more than $35 billion annually to meet its industrial financing needs, adding that no single institution can close the gap.

BOI plans to deploy more than N936 billion across priority industrial value chains in 2026, including agro-processing, food and beverages and pharmaceuticals.

The bank deployed N645 billion to more than 12,000 businesses across 46 states and the Federal Capital Territory in 2025, with more than N300 billion going to agro-aligned and core manufacturing activities.

Olusi has said BOI would seek to leverage government capital with private-sector funding, estimating that every N1 provided by the government could mobilise about N3 in domestic private capital.

He said the bank would also support businesses in preparing investment-ready projects through matching funds and blended financing, stressing that capital would have limited impact without projects capable of absorbing it.

The Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, John Enoh, said the country’s challenge was no longer developing industrial plans but implementing them consistently.

‘The difference is that while Morocco stuck to a plan and to implementation of that plan, and they were deliberate about it, Nigeria didn’t,’ Enoh said.

He said the IRWG must now produce specific actions that can be taken to the presidency as the government moves from policy launch to industrial performance.

The working group identified five execution priorities: affordable long-term financing; energy security and infrastructure; bureaucratic and regulatory reform; made-in-Nigeria patronage and market integrity; and skills development and innovation.

Ajayi-Kadir said the group’s focus should now be on delivering these priorities rather than producing further communiqués.

The technical session therefore marked a shift in the government-industry engagement from reaching consensus on industrial constraints to tracking implementation and measuring whether policy interventions translate into increased production, investment and jobs.

Dangote Refinery IPO wins backing to democratise Africa’s industrial wealth

A plan to take Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals public has drawn endorsements from some of Africa’s most prominent business and political figures, who argue that widening ownership of the continent’s largest single industrial investment could reshape how wealth is created and shared across Africa.

Speaking at the 2026 ADF Africa Diaspora Leadership Programme Young Global Leaders Convening in Lagos on Thursday, the leaders said the $20 billion refinery had already proven Africa could execute projects at global scale. They said a listing would let pension funds, retail investors and the diaspora buy directly into that success, rather than leaving it concentrated among the plant’s founding backers.

Aliko Dangote, president and chief executive officer of Dangote Industries Ltd., said the offering was designed to spread the refinery’s returns well beyond its promoters.

‘I want drivers, cooks, the woman selling food on the streets of Ghana, Rwanda and South Africa to invest so they can share in this prosperity,’ Dangote told delegates in a fireside conversation. ‘We are doing the IPO to pass this prosperity to Africans.’

Dangote drew a distinction between accumulating money and building enterprises that generate jobs and opportunity, a theme he returned to repeatedly.

‘I am wealthy, not rich. A wealthy man creates wealth, while a rich man makes money and keeps it for himself,’ he said, adding that setbacks had only hardened his resolve to push the continent’s industrialisation. ‘There is no amount of hurdle that will stop us. If you put a brick wall in front of me, I will make a hole and pass through.’

He said he expects the refinery to eventually rank as Africa’s largest company by size and profitability, pointing to Amazon.com Inc., Microsoft Corp., Tesla Inc. and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. as examples of companies whose growth accelerated after going public.

The broader goal, he said, is to lower the risk premium investors attach to African assets. ‘Our job is to derisk Africa, encourage more investors, create jobs and create more opportunities. That is how we will transform Africa,’ he said.

Jendayi Frazer, a former U.S. assistant secretary of state for African affairs and co-chair of The Africa Center, said the offering could link African industrial output directly with African and diaspora capital.

‘It can broaden participation in the value created by African industry,’ Frazer said, adding that it would connect ‘African institutions, pension funds, savers, individual investors, including the African diaspora’ to the continent’s growth.

Frazer said the plant’s significance extends past petroleum output into questions of geopolitical leverage. ‘Economic power is not only what a country possesses, it’s also what it can create, process, finance, transport and sell,’ she said. ‘Africa does not need the world’s permission to build.’

Babajide Sanwo-Olu, governor of Lagos State, called for African strategic assets to be owned more broadly, citing the refinery as proof the continent can execute at scale.

‘The next frontier of African scale is not another giant. It is a thousand ordinary owners: the teacher in Enugu, the nurse in New Jersey and the pension fund in Nairobi,’ he said, describing how Dangote had to build a jetty and a power plant simply to get the refinery running. ‘Mr. Dangote did not build a refinery. He built a country around a refinery, and then he built the refinery.’

Sanwo-Olu noted the project survived construction delays, the pandemic and steep naira depreciation despite widespread skepticism it would ever start up. ‘It runs,’ he said. ‘The true measure of this refinery is not that it stands. It is whether the next one is easier.’

Fatima Aliko Dangote, group executive director for commercial operations at Dangote Industries, said Africa’s challenge now is converting resources and talent into durable productive capacity.

‘This is more than a Dangote story,’ she said. ‘It is a story about what Africa must build, what Africa must own, and what this generation of leaders must help make possible.’

Afreximbank, which arranged much of the refinery’s financing, cast the project as validation of its own industrialisation strategy. Temwa Roosevelt Gondwe, the bank’s director for creatives and diaspora, intra-African trade and export development, said Afreximbank underwrote $2.5 billion of a $4 billion syndicated loan and later added a $1 billion working-capital facility. ‘Unless we produce, we cannot trade. Unless we capture value, we cannot prosper,’ Gondwe said.

The gathering also showcased the Aliko Dangote Foundation’s leadership programs, including the YGL Aliko Dangote Fellowship run with the World Economic Forum, which has backed more than 130 young African leaders over 15 years. Attendees included Mariéme Jamme of I Am The Code, Hatim Eltayeb of the African Leadership Academy, and open-source advocate Angela Oduor Lungati.

58 Kaduna women overcome VVF, get skills, starter packs

Fifty-eight women who underwent successful treatment for Vesico Vaginal Fistula (VVF) in Kaduna State have graduated from a rehabilitation and skills acquisition programme designed to restore their dignity, confidence and economic independence.

The beneficiaries, whose fistulae were repaired at the Yusuf Dantsoho Fistula Centre, received skills training and starter packs at a graduation ceremony organised by the Kaduna State Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development in collaboration with development partners.

Speaking at the ceremony, Deputy Governor Dr Hadiza Balarabe described the event as a celebration of healing, courage, resilience, restoration and renewed hope for women who had endured physical, emotional and social challenges caused by the condition.

Balarabe, who conveyed Governor Uba Sani’s greetings, said the administration had prioritised healthcare, particularly for women and children, stressing that rehabilitation should go beyond surgical repair to restore survivors’ confidence, dignity, social acceptance and capacity to earn a living.

She commended the Ministry of Women Affairs, Fistula Foundation Nigeria, UNFPA, medical personnel, caregivers, trainers and counsellors for their contributions to the intervention, saying the skills training and starter packs would help the beneficiaries achieve self-reliance and productive reintegration into their communities.

‘As a medical doctor myself, I understand the profound physical, emotional and social challenges women living with obstetric fistula may experience,’ Balarabe said, urging stakeholders to intensify awareness, promote quality maternal healthcare and encourage skilled attendance during pregnancy and childbirth.

The deputy governor also called for improved access to fistula treatment without fear, stigma or discrimination, assuring that the state government would continue to improve healthcare and the wellbeing of women, children and other vulnerable groups, while reducing out-of-pocket expenses through the state health insurance programme.

Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Hajiya Rabi Salisu, described the graduation as a milestone in healing, recovery, dignity and empowerment, saying the 58 women successfully completed VVF repair and subsequent skills acquisition programmes across the state.

Salisu said VVF repair was only the beginning of sustainable recovery, adding that the beneficiaries would form a cooperative society under the ministry to promote mutual support and economic sustainability. She urged them to see themselves as survivors, entrepreneurs, leaders and advocates rather than victims of their past experiences.

The Executive Director of Fistula Foundation Nigeria, Mr Musa Isa, representing UNFPA, said quarterly fistula repair campaigns have enabled more than 400 women and girls to access free treatment, including surgery, medication, feeding and transport, while doctors and nurses have also been trained in fistula management.

Representing the Federal Ministry of Health, Mallam Faruk Usman said more than 300 patients had been treated at the Yusuf Dantsoho intervention centre over two years, through collaboration between the Kaduna Government and Fistula Foundation Nigeria. He urged stakeholders to identify women still suffering silently in communities and to facilitate their access to free treatment.

One of the beneficiaries, Rahma Ibrahim, described her experience with VVF as traumatic, saying the condition caused her pain, emotional distress and social isolation. Another beneficiary, Khadija Yusuf, said the treatment, skills training and starter support had restored her confidence and given her hope of becoming self-reliant, while both women expressed gratitude to the government and development partners.