“My Money Is Safe With Me”: Ma Nowai Kaine’s Journey to Financial Confidence in Liberia.

For years, Ma Nowai Kaine worked hard to provide for her family. A widow, mother of five, and caregiver to six grandchildren, the 61-year-old farmer from Sargent Kollie Town in Bong County , Liberia has built her livelihood through determination and resilience.

As a member of the Margbeh Farmers Cooperative, she grows rice and vegetables to support her household. But as digital financial services became increasingly common in her community, Ma Nowai faced a new challenge: she did not know how to use a mobile phone independently.

Although mobile money services offered new possibilities for managing income, she had to rely on her grandchildren and local mobile money agents to complete transactions. This meant she could not always monitor her finances or understand what was happening with her money.

“I didn’t know how to use a phone,” she recalls. “My grandchildren or the money changer boys would help me, but sometimes the money would not come back the same way.”

Without the confidence to use digital financial tools, Ma Nowai often kept her earnings in cash hidden under her mattress, worried about losing the money she had worked so hard to save.

Her situation began to change when she joined the Digital for Women’s Economic Empowerment (D4WEE) Project, implemented by UN Women with funding support from the Orange Foundation. Through the initiative, Ma Nowai received a basic mobile phone and practical training on how to use Orange Money safely, protect her PIN, and complete transactions independently.

With new skills came greater confidence. Today, Ma Nowai manages her own mobile money account. She can save, send, and receive money without depending on others.

“Now nobody can confuse me,” she says proudly. “I know how to use my Orange Money. My money is safe with me.”

For Ma Nowai, learning how to use a phone was not only about accessing a new technology. It was about having greater control over the income she earns and the decisions that affect her daily life.

“This phone has helped me a lot,” she says with a smile. “Now I can be anywhere, pay for my goods, and save my money without fear.”

Ma Nowai’s experience reflects the challenges faced by many rural women who have limited access to digital tools and financial services. By strengthening women’s digital and financial literacy, the D4WEE Project is helping women farmers participate more safely in Liberia’s growing digital economy.

Since its launch in 2022, the project has supported rural women farmers through training on digital platform use, business development, and financial literacy. Women participating in the project have generated approximately USD 338,394 through secure transactions on the Buy from Women platform.

Today, Ma Nowai no longer keeps her earnings hidden away or relies on others to manage her transactions. She carries with her a new confidence: the ability to use technology independently, protect her income, and continue building a more secure future for herself and her family.