A West African Diary

Green Gold

2010-01-16T17:28:00.003Z

Published in the January issue of Interdépendances, here is an article (in French) written by Raphaëlle Birot, agricultural engineer and member of the project team that initiated the project of rural sales of spirulina in Burkina Faso.

In 2009, 25 beneficiaries of the MFI AsIEnA distributed over 120kg of spirulina in the villages around Koudougou, we can be hopeful that in 2010, even more malnourished children and adults will be able to add this powerful nutrient to their daily meal...

TresorVert.pdf

Visit of the new FSD Coordinator

2009-09-14T08:12:00.006Z

Today the Chorkor branch received the visit of the new FSD Coordinator, Miss Elise Ponson. As some of you may remember, the FSD (Fund for Social Development) is a fund managed by the French Embassy which aims at bringing a direct support to local NGOs.
In our case, we are receiving this support for the second time, for the development of our 0% interest loan aiming at the most deprived micro entrepreneurs that we call "Kick Start loans".
Elise came on field to discover our methodology and she met with the Mokosane group, made of 13 Kick Start loanees. 2 of them got their loan in June, the rest in July. The average amount they got is GH¢ 44, which they all used in their business, like Rosemary Mensah (see photos below) who purchased Nigerian soap with it, which she sells in her community. In addition, most of the group is now saving GH¢ 1 to GH¢ 2 per week, while before they joined ID-Ghana almost none of them was saving. This kind of behavioural change is made possible thanks to the training the Social Mission team (in this case the Kick Start loan project manager, Godknows Kporha). He gives such trainings on a weekly basis to our Kick Start partners. After all, one could say that the Kick Start loans project is more of a financial education programme than a financial scheme. For rather sooner than later, our ambition is to see these special product beneficiaries be empowered enough to be able to manage a loan on their own, and access greater capital through our "standard" products...

Proud to be a Nakolbzanga!

2009-09-13T11:45:00.003Z

(Narrated by Adelaide Gros)

It’s nearly a year since the spirulina project in partnership with the MFI AsIEnA started in Koudougou, Burkina Faso. The time has therefore come for a first evaluation and it’s an opportunity to discuss with the Nakoglbzanga* and know their feelings and motivations about the project.

I wanted to share with you the conversation I had with Georgette Kansono, Nakoglbzanga from Goundi a nearby village. What struck me most when meeting her is Georgette’s pride. When we mention spirulina, she smiles and immediately launches in a detailed explanation about the benefits the green powder has on people’s health if consumed regularly. She is all the more convincing that she experienced it herself. Since taking 5 grams of spirulina with her daily bowl of rice or to, she sleeps better and feels stronger.
Everybody in the village knows she sells spirulina in the village. And she adds that the recognition she gets from being a Nakoglbzanga is very important. She displays her Nakoglbzanga badge proudly, and head high definitely looks like she is very aware of the responsibility that rests on her shoulders. She surveys the crowd the alleys of the market, shouts with great conviction "spirulina, spirulina" and walks around selling the green and yellow sachets of spirulina. She also explains that she combines the position of Nakoglbzanga, which is a new income-generating activity for her with that of Mama Health, a benevolent role in which she handles the sales that take place within her MUSO ** to the members of the group and their families.

It is now usual that some villagers might come knocking on her door asking for a word of advice, as they have some health issues. Georgette speaks of spirulina with passion and is undoubtedly a great ambassador of this food supplement. But she remains realistic: Yes, spirulina can brings health and is good for everyone, children, adults and elderly alike, but it’s not a drug, it can never replace a chemist or doctor’s prescription. And to enjoy the benefits of spirulina, it must be consumed regularly, not as a one-off like some tables but for at least two or three weeks per year. Sadly at the moment in Burkina Faso, during the lean period, when granaries are empty and fields not yet ready to be harvested, families who live in the countryside can no longer afford to pay for spirulina. At the price of 500 FCFA francs per sachet, even loyal clients can not find the cash and have to wait until next month to resume their treatment. Georgette laments about this situation not because her profits decline during the winter season, but because she really cares about the health of its neighbours and there does not seem to be an easy solution to this pricing problem, local spirulina farms are already selling under margins.
All 25 trained Nakoglbzanga in Koudougou currently face a real challenge to fulfil their task, because customers have less money, but the cost of spirulina remains the same. But the priority remains for Georgette and the other Nakoglbzanga of the project to inform people about the benefits of spirulina and to try by all means to make it accessible to people living in the bush. In the meantime, EdM and AsIEnA are also talking with the farms to see how to possibly reduce the costs and selling prices, while not impacting on the sustainability of the project or the viability of farms ... A fine balance to strike...

* Spirulina sellers and counsellors, they are all members of the MFI AsIEna and belong to different MUSO. The name means 'the one who looks after the well-being of all' in the local dialect Moré.
** MUSO, Mutuelle Solidarité, a solidarity group of men and women who belong to the MFI AsIEnA.

Malaria Prevention and Management campaign in Nima

2009-09-12T08:54:00.011Z

We organised today jointly with our partner organisation Infanta Malaria Prevention Foundation (IMPF) a malaria prevention and management event in our community of Nima.

IMPF already helped us design our malaria training curriculum last year and shared with us some of their training tools that we use in our health and hygiene trainings.

This event in Nima consisted in the screening of approximately 150 children through a simple blood test (called Malaria Rapid Diagnostic Tests) and a training on malaria.
The campaign is the result of a joint effort of both organisations to gather necessary materials to make the tests on one hand (IMPF) and to find a venue and gather the Nima community on that particular day on the other hand (ID-Ghana).

The Success Story of August in Ghana

2009-08-21T11:46:00.003Z

Jessie is a 58 year old divorced woman with three children. The first two who are 38 years and 33 years are both married while the last who is 18 is in the Senior High School. She hails from Bukom in the Greater Accra Region. She was however born and bred in Kaneshie, Accra. Currently, she lives at Bubuashie but sells at the Kaneshie market where she has her shop.

Jessie used to sell cosmetics but later changed to the sale of cloth-ing since she felt she will make more profit. She usually opens her shop at 7:00 am and closes at 5:30 pm.
Her second child settled in the United States. He used to regularly send her money that she could invest in her business. But as he got married, remittance stopped immediately, which crushed her plan to expand her business. As she discussed about her situation with a friend of hers, she was introduced to ID-Ghana.
After making contacts and receiving our Credit Officers at her business place, she qualified for a first loan and received GH¢ 300 in October 2007. She again received GH¢ 500 and GH¢ 700 in April and November 2008 respectively. Currently, she is a Front Desk partner and her fourth loan of GH¢ 500 is being used to expand her business.
With the support from ID-Ghana she has been able to significantly diversify her business: with time, she included panties, braziers and scarves. Before taking the loan, her sales were ranging between GH¢ 10 and GH¢ 20 daily. Today, her sales range between GH¢ 30 and GH¢ 100 daily! Besides her savings of GH¢ 100 with ID-Ghana, she is also saving with UT Bank. Currently, she is able to meet her financial obligations without any headache. She is happy she is able to pay her last born’s fees without difficulties; she even withdrew some money from her savings for this purpose. Her greatest dream is to build a house for her children. She is confident she will be able to realise this dream since she is actively saving towards it!

Sodom and Gomorrah to be evacuated

2009-07-17T10:32:00.002Z

Created in 1979 illegally, the slum of Sodom & Gomorrah as lived under the threat of being removed ever since. But this time, the newspaper relate the strong will of Accra Municipality to move the slum outside of the city in Adzen Kotoku.
If it looks advisable to prevent people from settling on the land occupied today, which is surrounded by the highly polluted Korle Lagoon, many problems are yet to arise. Sodom & Gomorrah is indeed populated by thousands of temporary residents who come down from their village to sell their stock of products at the nearby Makola & Agbogbloshie markets. The land was therefore providing a cheap and central place wherefrom to operate and alternate solution is not part of municipality plan.
As far as ID-Ghana is concerned, we need to anticipate on this move as many of our partners reside or operate a business based on the land that will be relocated...

The Success Story of June in Burkina Faso

2009-06-28T21:10:00.004Z

Growing vegetables is increasingly popular for farmers in Burkina Faso after the rainy season. Jean-Baptiste Compaore, a farmer residing in Tansèga, a village situated some 35 km from Ouagadougou, the political capital of Burkina Faso, is one of those brave people who farm the land every day to make a living.

Originally from Tansèga, Jean-Baptiste grows cabbage, peppers and aubergines on his plot. He also grows tree saplings and tries himself at breeding.

Member of the Wend Waoga group, a group strong of eight men, he is also married and the father of seven children, amongst whom, four go to school. The family lives in a compound of five mud huts, three of which are for his family.

Jean-Baptiste learnt subsistence farming from a young age from his father. He proudly explains to us what tools are needed: watering cans, buckets, spades, shovels, rakes, small dabas* for digging holes and bars to dig water holes and wells, as there are no dam nearby. The major difficulty encountered is actually watering, as the wells dry up and it’s impossible to maintain a good level of water throughout the year. Farmers would therefore need cement and sand to improve the wells, but this represents a big investment and remains a limiting factor. Jean-Baptiste is in this situation because he can not yet fund such an expense, no matter how beneficial it would be for the crops.

During the rainy season, Jean-Baptiste wakes up at three a.m. to go to his garden, then goes to the field from eight to farm. At the end of the day around four, he returns to his plot and check his vegetables. He wants to water before nightfall and also check for parasites.

Although close to the capital city, the population of Tansèga conducts agro-pastoral activities similar to rural places, and despite their proximity to the big city, it is not easy for them to travel to Ouagadougou to go to a credit union or a bank.

A while back, the Wend Waoga group got counselling from the local radio "Vive le Paysan" which guided them to the Agricultural and Commercial Bank of Burkina (BACB). But most recently, Jean-Baptiste and his group heard of AsIEnA and the methods of this microfinance institution promoting self-sufficiency appealed to them a lot. They also liked the fact that AsIeNa is equipped with a mobile van, that doubles up as an office and so the loan officer comes and meets the group on site every month.

Jean-Baptiste has now been a partner of the MFI for three months and got a first loan amounting to 25000FCFA. This enabled him to purchase seeds and fertilizer.

Right now, Jean-Baptiste just started harvesting his vegetables and sells them on the local market, it has already yield a return of 17550FCFA, but the season is only starting and he hopes to at least double his income when the rest of his crop. He then intends to use his earnings to repay the credit of course, but also to buy more seeds and grow more species. Then he intends to take a second loan with AsIEnA, of a higher amount to restore and improve the two wells that are currently not in use.

(Story collected by Armel Guenguere)
* A daba is a little rake produced locally

Kick start loans started at ID-Ghana!

2009-06-26T14:49:00.005Z

The Kick Start loan project, funded by the French Embassy in Accra, has started on field with the first batch of disbursements at the branch of Chorkor.
After receiving their third training, the 9 selected women were given between GH¢ 40 and GH¢ 50 each. These micro entrepreneurs will pay no fees or interest for these very small loans (for amounts so small, we can talk of nano-loans). They are mostly fuits and vegetable vendors and the aim is to upgrade them in two or three loan cycles at a level of activity that enables them to take a more standard loan through our Onipa Nua groups.
This project is not driven by the financial team but by the social mission team, as a lot of emphasis is put on training and monitoring of micro entrepreneurs (or should I rather say nano entrepreneurs...?)
contrary to our other loan products Onipa Nua, this product is an individual one and is offered only to women. However, Kick Start loan partners are encouraged to join a group as early as possible to facilitate their integration later and they are equally encouraged to save each and every week, even a minimum amount.

ID-Ghana's new Executive Council

2009-06-23T14:11:00.004Z

Today is a great day for ID-Ghana. The Board of Directors (officially called the Executive Council) has been completely renewed. Such an overhaul has not occurred since 2002, when the previous Council had been formed.
The panel of talents gathered to preside over the destiny of the organization is rich, as it brings together professionals from many sectors: finance and administration, law, health and human resources, microfinance, development. But above all, for the first time, ID-Ghana now has two of its beneficiaries among its Board of Directors! This considerably enriches the governance of ID-Ghana by placing in its highest governing body some representatives of the communities for which the organization seeks to develop relevant and impactful actions.
The programme of day was held in Ramada Resort Accra in Teshie-Nungua (near Accra) and included a presentation of ID-Ghana, followed by the election of the board, whereupon the Council was sworn in. The meal that followed allowed everyone to get to know each other better, and a new working session was scheduled for 25th, July.
The composition of the new council is as follows:
- Bhavana BAGALWADI, Chairperson;
- Margaret CHEBERE, Vice-chairperson;
- Lætitia RAGINEL, Treasurer;
- Anthony NAMOO, Secretary;
- Comfort AGYEMFRA, member (and parter of Glefe branch);
- Christiane MILEV, member;
- Gracelove WILSON, member(and partner of Madina branch).

Visit of ALIDé in Ghana

2009-06-19T14:21:00.004Z

The team of ALIDé from Benin came to visit us on 18th and 19th, June to benefit from an exposure visit, just like us in May and August 2008 and more recently in May 2009 (see post of May 2008).
If our interest was directed in Cotonou towards the Kick Start loans, ALIDé's interest was to discover all about our Onipa Nua group methodology, which became our exclusive approach in our residential areas since 1st, January 2009.
The programme of visits took us to Agbogbloshie, Chorkor, Dansoman and Glefe. The ALIDé Social Mission team also attended a group leaders' training, a project designed to benefit ID-Ghana's 100 Onipa Nua groups which aims to reinforce the governance of our credit scheme at group level.
This fourth exchange visit was once again the opportunity to witness how beneficial a regional coordination of Entrepreneurs du Monde is. Teams know each other very well by now and exchanges between ID-Ghana staffs and their Beninese counterparts are very lively!
In the context, the Regional Meeting of Ouagadougou scheduled in September is bound to be a success!

Last stop, Agamè...

2009-06-18T22:30:00.006Z

2005 ... 2009

A camp of Togolese refugees in Benin

The influx of Togolese refugees in Benin had been following the violence which punctuated the 2005 presidential election in Togo. Some 25,000 Togolese, mostly women and children were then refugees in Benin where they were accommodated in the camps of Comè and Agamè.

Three years ago, violent clashes opposed the Togolese refugees settled in the camp with the locals, relationships deteriorated, as local people felt unfair that therefugees had access to free food, schools and medicines provided by UNHCR and various NGOs, whilst just down the road, they were struggling to earn a living.

As things cooled down in neighbouring Togo, committees of representatives of the civil society and political parties were set up to facilitate the returns of the refugees to their regions of origin and ensure the respect for their rights. To this end, UNHCR deployed additional staff in Aného and Lomé. So some went back…

Gradually, calm returned to the camp too, refugees gained confidence and there have been more spontaneous departures. When NGOs withdrew from the camp, the school closed, food aid has stopped, some refugees left for Cotonou and startd small businesses, some with the support of ALIDé, our local MFI.

But 4 years after the events, there are still over 3,500 Togolese refugeesin Agamè ... Most still living under the same tents they were given by the UNHCR in 2005. Waiting to go home? Nothing is less certain, if they have not yet made it back.

While integration has improved, the Togolese have settled in the nearby town of Lokassa, mixed groups were created, particularly to farm a 3 ha field that borders the camp. Since 2008, children are now attending the local primary schools in the local, only toddlers remain in the camp’s nursery school.

People who still live in the tents (one tent has 6 people or a family) are in extremely precarious conditions, four years of sun and rain have damaged the fabrics, the tents are falling to pieces, some people have built bamboo huts, but there are no solid buildings around.

Food aid was also stopped and is in this context that the UNHCR got in touch with ALIDé, so that with the financial support of the US Embassy, they could grant loans to help refugees develop their own income-generating activities and get out of poverty.

Following a training on microfinance that took place in April, the objective of our May trip was to get the refugees applying to the scheme registered with ALIDé.

The refugees have no papers, but must have their UNHCR registration card to apply for a loan, they are also asked to form groups of 3 people minimum. The program is also opened to refugees who left the camp to settle in the surrounding localities. This time, Edmond, Nicaise and Raoul registered 60 refugees, they will return in the coming month, as the waiting list long…

The groups are called Grace, God bless, Providence, God is Love, Love is God ... They ask for between 50 000 and 100 000 FCFA for a wide variety of activities. Among them, we find seamstresses, market gardeners, hairdressers, petty sellers and also some innovative activities, like this woman who produces enriched porridge, with a flour being currently tested by the Ministry of Health. One man studied computer sciences back in Togo and opened a cybercafé in the nearby village.

These men and women are being denied the status of refugees, the UNHCR has abandoned the management of the camp last year and regularly asks the Beninese authorities to recognize the people staying in the camp... to simply give them the right to seek and find employment. Meanwhile in Agamè, no one stays idle, men work the land, women do petty trading ... and with the help from ALIDé, they should slowly improve their income and living conditions, we hope.

ID-Ghana's Annual Report for 2008 is out!

2009-06-12T14:51:00.003Z

Following the external audit held in ID-Ghana in May, the 2008 annual report of the organization is out. It can be downloaded by clicking here.
This 24-page document includes the major events that marked 2008 and outlines future projects in 2009. A reference document for those who want to learn more about ID-Ghana!

The Mad Masters

2009-05-08T01:08:00.001Z

Here is a movie by the famous French filmmaker and anthropologist Jean Rouch made in 1955 in Accra, called Les Maîtres Fous (the Mad Masters). The first third of the documentary presented here shows some interesting images of Accra of that period, which is interesting to put in perspective with what Accra is now. Moreover, most of the people shown in the movie were living in Nima, a district where ID-Ghana works today...
"Les Maîtres Fous investigates one African response to colonial oppression. Around 1925 a cult was formed which went by the name of Hauka and whose members were possessed by colonial figures of power. Filmed in Accra, which was at the time the capital of the colonial Gold Coast, Les Maîtres Fous introduces its viewers into the world of Hauka possession ceremonies - a place filled with strange rituals and sometimes shocking practices.
At the request of the Hauka, Rouch attends and films one of their possession ceremonies. As the film progresses and the men in the cult become possessed, the transformation is dramatic. Once possessed, many of the members of the Hauka cult begin drooling, their bodies in a state of paroxysm; some even parade through the compound while burning their own flesh, as proof of the fact that they are no longer human. The apex of the ceremony happens when the Hauka spirits sacrifice and then eat a dog."
Text adapted from maitres-fous.net.You can read more about this movie by clicking here.

YouTube sources: part 1; part 2; part 3.

AFD donates computers to ID-Ghana

2009-04-24T08:46:00.004Z

The French Agency for Development AFD has donated today to ID-Ghana ten computers to enable us provide better quality services to our partners in the branches. These computers will be mostly used on field, equipped with our loans and savings tracking system (called Loan Performer) as shown on the picture below taken in our Chorkor branch.

Nima in Black & White

2009-04-21T15:17:00.000Z

We received last December the visit of a photojournalist called Guillaume Binet from MYOP photo agency in Paris.
Guillaume has extensively worked on the expansion of cities in the developing world, in Africa and South America more particularly.

He spent a few days in Accra and explored the area of Nima & Mamobi where he took some shots of the people there, many of whom are ID-Ghana partners.
From the lower part of the area where the gutter flows to the uphill side of Kanda highway, the snaps give an insight of the life in Nima and allow the viewers to sense the atmosphere of this historical popular district of Accra, which received as early as the 1910's its first migrants coming from the Sahelian region to work in the the then economically dynamic Gold Coast.
Come and discover the diaporama on MYOP website by clicking here!

The Success Story of April in Ghana

2009-04-20T14:09:00.004Z

Mariam is a 42 year old woman whose husband is based in Germany. Their three children live with her at Madina Estate close to Accra. Her first child is 29, followed by the second 19 and the last 5. The first is a trader; the second is in Senior High School Form 2 and the last in Kindergarten. Her husband remits her every month to help with the upkeep of the children. He also visits Ghana at least twice a year so as to spend sometime with the family.

Mariam comes from Tamale in the Northern region of Ghana. She migrated to Accra to trade. On her arrival, she lived with a cousin at Achimota and soon started selling baby clothes. She later got married and then joined her husband at Madina. It was after she had their 3rd child, her husband travelled outside the country for greener pastures.
After selling babies’ wares for some years, she decided to change to plastic bowls since some friends advised she would make more money. She has been selling the bowls for about 6 years now and usually open her shop at 7:00 am and closes at 6:00 pm.
Mariam got to know about ID-Ghana when she needed a loan to enable her expand and diversify her business. A friend of hers who happened to be a partner of ID-Ghana introduced her to Benjamin Egyir, a credit officer at the Madina branch. She was educated on the procedures of the organisation and was given her first loan on the 7th, June 2007.
With her first loan of GH¢ 120, she was able to increase her stock. Her subsequent loans of GH¢ 220, GH¢ 400 and GH¢ 700 received on 25th, October 2007, 28th, February 2008 and 3rd, July 2008 re-spectively, enabled her to include kitchen knives, cutlery set and glasses to her stock.
Before taking the loan from ID-Ghana, her turnover used to be about GH¢ 50 a day. Currently, with the diversification and expan-sion of her business, there has been great increase in her sales. Her turnover now ranges between GH¢ 80 and GH¢ 150. On the whole, the loan has been very beneficial to her. She now has no difficulty paying her children fees even when her husband doesn't send money down. She is able to take better care of them, thanks to ID-Ghana. Her future plans are to educate her two children still in School to the tertiary level and to build a house for them.

Fishermen of Glefe

2009-04-09T09:11:00.005Z

Glefe, where we have one of our seven branches, is not a very well known area of the city. It indeed lies in the South-Western corner of Accra, locked in between a lagoon and the ocean. There is only one access for cars: a narrow road across the lagoon.
This sandy land, slowly eaten up by the violent waves of the Gulf of Guinea, has been occupied by different communities for the past 15 to 20 years and quite naturally, fishermen communities initially settled there.
Nowadays, fishes have rather left the immediate vicinity of the urban seashore and most fishermen have gone to further locations. But a few boats still carry on some fishing activity from the beach.
The fishing technique consists in dropping the very long net off the shore with the boat. The team of 20+ men handles from the beach the net and follows the drift of the heavy equipment sometimes over several hundreds of meters, starting from Pambros beach to Dansoman beach, some 2 km further. Once the net is expected to be containing a good catch, it is closed and brought on the land.
Women carrying empty dishes follow the team of fishermen from a distance and once the net is brought on shore, they come to purchase the fish right from the net. These women are among the beneficiaries of ID-Ghana.
Already once today have the fishermen launched their net to bring it almost empty. The second catch we attended to was also meager and it is almost another GH¢ 10 burnt in the form of fuel that fishermen would have to bear. Rather too often, these sea worker have to borrow money from the women whom they pay back with the fishes they catch later on. Fishermen launch the net up to three times a day. Today each of them won't make more than a couple of Ghana cedi each...

GH¢ 1 = € 1.7

The Success Story of March in Ghana

2009-03-20T14:06:00.002Z

Lardi is 43 years old. She is married with three children. Her hus-band, 48, works with Prudential Bank. She lives in Nima with her family. Her eldest child is 20 and has just completed Senior High School; the second child is 18 and is in Senior High School form 2; the last, 12, is in class 6.

Lardi hails from Kongo in the Upper East Region of Ghana. She migrated to Accra in search of a job. Upon her arrival in Accra she lived with an uncle at 37 Military Hospital until she got a job as a house help. She later left the job because she felt she was made to over work, yet her salary was nothing to write home about. She then started selling ice water, initially in the street, until she met her husband. She later moved from her uncle's house to join her husband at Nima where she has resided since. Even though they changed accommodation a number of times, they have always lived within Nima.
Long after she got married Lardi continued selling ice water until her customers started requesting for minerals. She therefore started saving some money from her profit towards this business venture. After saving for some time, her husband contributed some money to get her start her minerals business. The money however was still not sufficient for her to register with the Coca Cola distributor. It was at that point that she needed a loan to en-able her realise her dream.
Fortunately, she got to know about ID-Ghana. She happened to be living in the same compound house with a brother of Sunday Daa Tii, a Credit Officer of ID-Ghana. She came into contact with Sunday, when he went to visit his brother. Through a conversation she got to know he works with a micro finance organization. She immediately told him about her desire to secure a loan. Sunday was helpful in getting her her first loan and he has continued to be helpful and good to her since.
She received her first loan of GH¢ 30 on 20th, August 2007. With her first loan she was able to register with a Coca Cola truck which supplied her with bottled minerals (sodas). With her subsequent loans of GH¢ 60, GH¢ 100, GH¢ 150, GH¢ 200, GH¢ 250 and GH¢ 400 received between March 2005 and November 2008, she was able to diversify by adding canned minerals and biscuits to her business.
Further, her business has expanded, thanks to the support from ID-Ghana. She has also been able to purchase a glass stand where she now sells very comfortably. Before dealing with ID-Ghana, she made sales of about GH¢ 10 a week. Currently, her sales range between GH¢ 100 and GH¢ 150 a week!
On the issue of trainings received from ID-Ghana, she thinks it is very beneficial since it helped her manage her finances better. In addition to her savings of GH¢ 150 with ID-Ghana, she is able to save with a Susu collector (local traditional savings system) and also has an account with Stanbic Bank.
Today, our financial support has helped her greatly in the payment of her children’s fees. She has been able to buy a lot of kitchen wares which she did not have before. She is also able to support her husband better now.
Her future plan is to save enough money to help her husband to complete a building project which he has not been able to finish due to financial difficulties.

Celebrating Women's Day in Burkina Faso

2009-03-08T19:54:00.006Z

Microstart** celebrates Women's Day in Koubri

It was Clara Zetkin who created Women's Day at the International Conference of Socialist Women in Copenhagen in 1910, then some 60 years later, the 8th March officially became the UN's Women's Day.
This day is now a public holiday in Burkina Faso, Laos, Ukraine, Russia and many other countries. Nowadays, the 8th March is loosing its activist edge in some places like France, where husbands are urged to take their wives to Venice for a WE or to offer them a perfume, but certainly not in Burkina Faso, where the whole country prepares for weeks in advance and celebrates with numerous dances, ceremonies, speeches and round-tables about women's rights.
'Investing in girls and women for sustainable development' was this year's theme... Sadly, Burkina Faso still has some progress to make as far as gender issues are concerned, women still remain, with children, the most vulnerable group to poverty, they suffer violence of all kinds, discrimination and exclusion social. Arranged weddings, domestic violence, sexual harassment in schools, social exclusion of older women ... are only some of the many causes of suffering here for girls and women, not to forget the persistence of female circumcision, despite numerous campaigns to eradicate it.
One can't help to feel hopeful though, when seeing the Koubri women parading in their beautiful clothes, some carrying babies in their back, others proudly displaying their working tools, but all of them walking heads up before the local administrative and religious authorities and talking about self-sufficiency and education. The mayor of Ouagadougou, Mr Simon Compaore attended the event in person, so one hopes that the message of Ms. Phoebe Ouedraogo, the dynamic and charismatic head of the microfinance institution Microstart, will be heard. As the sponsor of the event, she adressed amongst others the men in power to give women more seats in local and general elections (there are for example only 3 women's councillors out of 51 in Koubri).
While on the podium, she kept quiet about the great work her MFI is doing, putting into pratice the day's slogan. Ms Ouedraogo's choice as sponsor of the event was very telling, as she and her team are helping thousands of women to come out of poverty through microfinance. Partners of Microstart are organized in groups of 5 or more and borrow amounts ranging from 5,000 to 500,000 CFA francs at a rate of 2% per month, all are encouraged to save at least 10% of the loan amount. With this method and the training offered by the institution, including a literacy program in collaboration with the FONAEF (National Fund for the Education of Girls), they can gain education, send their children to school and simply provide their families three meals a day.
The success of the day showed the impact institutions like Microstart can make to a village like Koubri. This confirms for us at EdM, the importance of supporting them behind the scenes and helping them continue to 'invest in girls and women for a sustainable development '.

** EdM met Microstart a year ago when opening up its new branch in Burkina Faso. The partnership was forged, over a shared vision of reaching out to the poorest and because the MFI needed technical support to better use their management and information systems (Loan Performer).

Signature of the FSD funding contract

2009-03-05T13:27:00.006Z

The contract between the French Embassy in Accra and ID-Ghana was signed today by the French Ambassador in Accra, HE Francis Hurtut (right) and the Executive Director of ID-Ghana (Romain Tevels, center), in presence of the Deputy Director of ID-Ghana (Bruno Achana, left).
As mentioned in a previous article (see this blog on 9th, January), this funding of € 24,000 over one year will enable ID-Ghana to develop an new loan product meant for the most deprived micro entrepreneurs of Accra. This product, named "Kick Start loan", won't have any interest or processing fee.
The idea is to identify potential micro entrepreneurs in a particularly difficult situation that does not allow them to manage a "standard" loan. A reinforced social follow-up would enable them to deal with the financial help (i.e. the loan) that ID-Ghana would give them. In a time span of one to two loan cycles (approximately 3 to 6 months), the micro entrepreneur will be in a position to upgrade herself and take a normal loan through our 'Onipa Nua' group methodology.

See also the related article on the French Embassy web site.

Microfinance on Wheels!

2009-02-26T22:34:00.008Z

Setting up a Mobile Microfinance Agency in the suburbs of Ouagadougou

Since 2008, EDM supports ASIENA in Burkina Faso in a capacity building program, as well as numerous innovative projects, such as the launch of a mobile agency, thanks to a Nissan van and some very motivated staff.

This project is funded by the French Foundation Le Mascaret and answers the need of some of the poorest people of Ouagadougou. These people might have left their villages in search of a better life in the big city, but end up living in the suburbs with none of the basic services like electricity or running water, and hardly enough money to make the journey back home to their hometown, if they wanted to. The families living in those neighbourhoods are excluded from the formal banking system and rely on moneylenders charging extortionate rates. They may have access to some microfinance services, but it usually involves travelling into town, so now Asiena is wishing to meet them on their doorstep. This project targets areas of the suburbs that are landlocked with difficult road access.

Indeed, these micro-entrepreneurs wish to start an income generating activity, but are hampered by lack of transport, basic services or income... Almost all of them are engaged in activities in the informal sector, whether they are petty traders or food sellers. It is mostly the mothers, who are the main breadwinner; as husbands, when they work, are mostly hired in the formal sector, and often working far away from home. There is no shortage of micro finance services in Ouagadougou, but very few are targeted towards the poorest people with no guarantees and no ID documents.

The Mobile Agency will reach out to these people with an offer of both financial and non-financial services, using the MUSO methodology**, which was tried and tested by Asiena with over 3,000 people in the regions of Dédougou, Diébougou , Nouna and Koudougou. The objective is to answer the needs of the families residing in these neighborhoods, promote the MUSO philosophy of solidarity and self-reliance and encourage them to do voluntary savings, as well as attend trainings on management topics or social themes like health, nutrition or gender issues.

Two months down the road, the Head of Operations and Development at Asiena and the EdM intern working on the Mobile Agency project have talked to a dozen groups. Over 300 women (and 10 men!) have been trained. These people urgently need access to a loan and saving scheme, but also acknowledge the need for coaching along the way, and the MUSO philosophy seems to convince them.
So steps have been taken to purchase and a van and it’s now a matter of weeks until these new MUSO are in place and the members are granted their first loans.

Author: Emilie Frapsauce
(Translated by Laetitia)

* Asiena, Association Inter-Instituts Ensemble et Avec "Together With" was established in 2002, it operates in Burkina Faso and Niger with a double mission of solidarity and self sufficiency, supported by three initiatives: mutual health organizations, saving and loan schemes and economic or social trainings.

** The MUSO methodology is based on the principle of MUtual SOlidarity, the members put their contributions in 3 separate boxes: a green box (the retirement fund , that is also used for loans for income-generating activities), a red box for social issues (births, deaths, illnesses…), and a blue box for external funding that is then redistributed to the members in the shape of small loans over 4 to 9 months. Monthly General Meetings are an opportunity the people belonging to the MUSO to attend training on economic and social themes. A MUSO can count between 5 and 30 members.

The Success Story of February in Ghana

2009-02-20T13:51:00.004Z

Mary Brown is a Ga from Chorkor in the Greater Accra Region. She is in her 40s and has been divorced for four years after twenty-five years of marriage. She has three children - one boy and two girls. They are Larte Lartey, 12 years old and in class 6, Larkor Lartey, 9 years old and in class 5, and Larkaly Lartey, 6 years old and in class 2. According to her, the first two children live with their paternal grandfather.
Mary was in Hair Dyeing business when she joined ID-Ghana. She was among the first partners to receive a loan when Chorkor branch was opened in 2002 (see our article of July 2003). She has since received not less than seven loans. Her first loan was GH¢15.00 and her current one is GH¢150.00.
Mary’s working capital back in 2002 was about GH¢50.00 but it has now grown to about GH¢200.00 today. According to her, with the help of the loans and business trainings she has been receiving from ID-Ghana, she was able to divert from hair dyeing into turkey tail business (a delicacy in Ghana!) and further on into fruit business only four months ago. Her savings position in ID-Ghana is currently GH¢185.00.
The loan has helped her in the following ways:
- She has been able to complete the chamber-and-hall apartment where she lives with her last born.
- She has been able furnish her room with items like television, furniture, etc.
- She also bought a fridge during the turkey tail business for freezing the meat
- She is also able to support her child’s education.
Her future business plans are to save a lot of money to expand her fruits business for her to have variety of fruits to satisfy the customers and to save enough money to support her children.
She is keen to say that ID-Ghana’s loans and trainings have helped her to diversify her business twice without any problem. Through the trainings, she has been able to run her business without any difficulty. Now she has recognized and appreciates the importance of savings as well as how to cost her products before selling.
For Mary, ID-Ghana has gained a lot of importance in her life throughout 7 years of support…

ID-Ghana programme brochure for 2008 is out!

2009-02-04T11:39:00.005Z

Like last year, the programme brochure relating last year's achievements of ID-Ghana has jut been released.

This document provides in few pages a simple but rather comprehensive overview of progresses made by the programme in 2008 and gives an idea of expected developments for 2009. You can download in pdf format and read it by clicking

here.
Feel free to share it with your contacts!

The Success Story of January in Ghana

2009-01-25T11:24:00.004Z

Jesse is 58 years old and is married to Mr. Thomas Addo. They are both Ga people from the Greater Accra Region. They have been married for 20 years now and have three children - Sarah Annan 38, single and unemployed, Justice Annan 35, married and living in London, and Michael Addo 17, a form two student of Mankessim Secondary Technical School.
They have been living at Bubuashie, a suburb of Accra for the past sixteen years in her family house, a four bedroom apartment which is shared with her other siblings.
In1981, Jesse was working as a sales girl at Swanlake supermarket located at North Kaneshie. She worked there for six years before resigning.
Soon after that, she started selling panties at the Kaneshie Market with an initial capital of GH¢ 0.20 (then ¢ 2,000). She was rein-vesting all the profit she made back into the business which en-abled her to add other items customers were demanding such as singlets, ladies’ skirts, boxer shorts, socks, scarves, T-shirts, nightgowns, towels, braziers etc.
Between 2005 and 2007 there were other demands which re-quired additional capital. In her quest to meet these demands, she had discussions with some friends to find means to raise the needed capital. A friend introduced her to ID-Ghana. She was granted her first loan of GH¢ 300 in November 2007, a second loan of GH¢ 500 in April 2008 and the third and current loan of GH¢ 700 at the end of November 2008.
These loans have helped her to add items such as bed sheets, curtains, shedda materials, gray bath, voile etc, which are on high demand. Her capital base has increased to GH¢ 3,000 from GH¢ 2,000, and her daily sales to GH¢ 50 from GH¢ 30. She has also built up savings of GH¢ 160 while operating her business in a small metal container at the market.
She feels ID-Ghana has been of great help to her as it helped her meet all the demands of her customers. She more specifically thinks the trainings she received so far on Costing and Pricing, Importance of Savings, Customer Care, etc have helped her in running her business effectively. She also considers the regular visits of Lucas Dovie (the Credit Officer in charge) to find out how her business is doing as a source of encouragements.
Her plan for the future is to have a large stock of all the products she sells so that she does not run short of supplies. For example, today, some customers come looking for calico and cotton hand-kerchief which she does not have in stock.
Her other plans are to save enough money to see her last child through his education up to university level and to acquire land to put up a house of her own.

New year, new challenges!

2009-01-09T19:16:00.012Z

2009 arrived as 2008 ended on a positive note for ID-Ghana. Indeed, a number of potential donors have confirmed their desire to support our actions:

Deutscher Entwicklungsdienst (DED), the German cooperation, confirmed a 3-year support for the co-financing the one Executive Director and one Finance and Administrative Manager position;
The French Embassy in Accra, through the Fund for Social Development (FSD) has also confirmed its will to fund the development of a loan product aiming at reaching out to very poor micro-entrepreneurs, like the “Kick Start” loans developed by ALIDé in Benin (see article of 23 May 2008 on this subject);
Global Rating and Assessment Service (GRASS) has expressed its readiness to co-finance a comprehensive rating of ID-Ghana by Microfinanza Rating in the last quarter of 2009. This program, which involves under ADA banner the Government of Luxembourg, the Microfinance Initiative Liechtenstein, the Swiss Cooperation, ResponsAbility and Oxfam Novib aims to support the social and financial rating of MFIs.

These funds will thus enable us to put in place a number of major projects in 2009 like the transfer of leadership to a local management team (the ads have already been placed in local newspapers) or the development of a loan product without fees or interest that will enable us to increase our impact on the poorest entrepreneurs of Accra.
The rating with the Italian agency Microfinanza Rating, which will include a part related to the evaluation of purely financial services (credit and savings) and a part that will seek to assess the social impact of ID-Ghana, is bound to enhance critically our credibility towards future funders.
But these milestones of ID-Ghana’s 2009 development plan are far from covering all the projects scheduled for this year. Indeed, the opening of a new branch, probably in the Northern neighbourhood of Anyaa, the expansion of our ‘Onipa Nua’ group methodology (based on the pilot-experience of Glefe, see article of 30th, January and 10th, February 2007) which, since 1st, January, became the only methodology used in residential areas, the development of new trainings modules or the deployment of a savings methodology in market areas, are as many decisive projects that will enable us to reach out to 8,000 micro-entrepreneurs (against just over 5,000 last year) and achieve a level of financial sustainability of 88% at the end of 2009 (against about 80% at end 2008).
The ID-Ghana team, who gathered today in Head Office for its yearly party, is more than ever motivated to pick these challenges!