In this week’s Kiva Pledge Update I am supporting Tettey, who deals in mobile phones and accessories in Kade, Ghana.

According to his Kiva business page:

Tettey is forty-three. He is married and has four children, all in school. He lives with his wife and children in a rented apartment in a town called Kade in the Eastern Region of Ghana. He works hard to be able to provide for the family. Tettey is a trader. He deals in mobile phones and accessories. He sells in a shop by the roadside in his community. He tells us that he buys the phones from the big cities at affordable prices. Tettey has been in business for three years and wants a loan to procure all kinds of phones in larger quantities in order to expand his business.

Stay tuned for the next Kiva Pledge Update on December 6th.

In this week’s Kiva Pledge Update I am supporting John Lubowa, who currently rides a boda-boda in Lugazi, Uganda.

According to his Kiva business page:

Lubowa John is the leader of his lending group in Lugazi. He is 36 years old, married, and has five children aged 5, 7, 9, 11 and 13. They are all in primary school. John also takes care of seven dependants, including orphans.

John is a hardworking man and has been a boda-boda rider for Lugazi Town Council for the past five years. He shows good customer care towards his clients. His business is seasonal, which affects his cash flow. He is able to make 20,000 UGX a week profit. He has a dream of buying his own bike so that he could earn a larger income and continue to educate his children to the last level. John is requesting a loan to purchase a cow (with a top-up from his savings) so that he could sell milk to diversify his family income.

Stay tuned for the next Kiva Pledge Update on November 22nd.

In this week’s Kiva Pledge Update I am supporting Ayub Mupere’s Group, who is currently operating a clothing boutique in Lugazi, Uganda.

According to their Kiva business page:

Mupere Ayub has had a boutique in Bukamunye for one and a half years. He is a married man with nine children between the ages of 1 and 18, as he takes care of his siblings. He is a determined man and he is lucky that he is able to make 80,000/= profit a week. Before having a boutique, Ayub was a fisherman. He does not regret the change, although his business is affected by high competition. He ensures that he treats his customers well and has quality clothes for resale; hence, more sales. In the future, Ayub wants to be a wholesaler so that he can build a house for his family.

Ayub needs a loan to be able to restock his boutique with more clothes for a steady supply of products. He is the leader of his lending group in Lugazi.

Stay tuned for the next Kiva Pledge Update on November 8th.

In this week’s Kiva Pledge Update I am supporting Margaret Nankabirwa’s Group, who is currently operating a secondhand clothing store in Kampala, Uganda.

According to their Kiva business page:

Nankabirwa Margaret is the leader of her lending group in Namasuba. She is a young woman who is obsessed with the desire to succeed through hard work. She is not yet married and has no child.

Margaret has a business selling secondhand clothes and has a shop in central Kampala. She joined her lending group to be able to access more capital for her business since she could not find any other alternative and, sincerely, she has found it worthwhile. She wants to be an independent lady and, even if she gets married, not leave everything to her husband.

Margaret needs a loan to be able to buy more clothes for increased variety, leading to increased sales and hence more income and profits.

Stay tuned for the next Kiva Pledge Update on October 25th.

In this week’s Kiva Pledge Update I am supporting Semugenya James’ Group, who is currently operating a general store in Lugazi, Uganda.

According to their Kiva business page:

Semugenya James is a hardworking woman with a retail shop in Lweru trading centre. She is 45 years old and married. She is responsible for twelve children between the ages of four and 24 years, some her own and some, orphans.

Semugenya used to be a farmer but was affected by the drop in price of produce and so changed to retail sales. From her shop she makes 200,000 UGX in profits, mostly attributable to the use of her loan and the quality of her products.

At the moment, Semugenya is requesting a loan to restock her shop with more goods and to pay for part of her children’s school fees. Semugenya dreams of becoming a wholesaler as well as educating her children to the highest level.

Stay tuned for the next Kiva Pledge Update on October 11th.

In this week’s Kiva Pledge Update I am supporting Dawa Marita, who is currently in the business of selling bread and beans in Gudele, Sudan.

According to his Kiva business page:

Dawa Marita is currently in the business of selling bread and beans and is requesting a loan to stock more beans to sell. Dawa is 39 years old and is Married with a husband that is a teacher. She has 4 children and her children go to school. With the extra profits from her loan, she hopes to be able to open up a shop BRAC’s holistic approach to poverty alleviation and empowerment of the poor encompasses a range of core programs in economic and social development, health, education , and human rights and legal services which are delivered through an extensive network of village organizations. BRAC has become one of the world’s largest NGOs as a measured by the scale and diversity of its interventions. In 2007, BRAC started operations in Southern Sudan. The microfinance program, which is targeted towards returning war refugees, has already formed 418 village organizations with more than 14,000 women members.

Stay tuned for the next Kiva Pledge Update on September 27th.

In this week’s Kiva Pledge Update I am supporting Androa Alfred Bayo, who operates a mobile phone shop in Koboko, Uganda.

According to his Kiva business page:

Bayo Androa Alfred is aged thirty-two year old, married and blessed with one child. He is more so looking after two dependents that are schooling. He owns a rental shop which is known as Chemical tech located along main road in Koboko town. He has been operating his business since the year 2002 so far seven years. He is using the loan to purchase phone accessories that is selling phones, phone housings, batteries and more so repairing phones for his customers and so forth. Bayo is a hardworking business man whose dream is to prosper in life.

Stay tuned for the next Kiva Pledge Update on September 13th.

In this week’s Kiva Pledge Update I am supporting Nelson Ndung’u Itotia, a water distributor in Muthure, Kikuyu, Kenya. As water is a critical need in Africa, the services that Nelson Ndung’u Itotia provides are essential to his community’s survival.

According to his Kiva business page:

Nelson Itotia is a 35-year-old married father of two children who lives in Muthure, Kikuyu. He supplies water to homesteads and construction projects. He also owns rental houses where he earns about KSH 4,000 per month. Nelson was introduced to KADET by a friend who was already a member of KADET. He has borrowed from K-REP Bank before but this will be his first loan with KADET. He wants to use the loan to dig his borehole deeper so that he can have enough water for his personal use and for his business. One day Nelson hopes to expand his water supply business by buying a truck to supply water in large quantities in addition to delivery with his donkey. In addition to all that, he would like to raise pigs on his farm.

Stay tuned for the next Kiva Pledge Update on August 30th.

In this week’s Kiva Pledge Update I am supporting Bakary Diakité, a metal worker in Bougouni, Mali. This is my first Kiva loan to Mali.

According to their Kiva business page:

Mr. Bakary Diakité, age 24, has no children. He lives with his wife in a large family in his father’s place in the Massablacoura district of Bougouni City (third administrative region of the Republic of Mali). He was not placed into school by his parents due to societal reasons. Soon, he started earning an income. For some years, he tried different businesses without success. He ultimately opted to learn the trade of welding from his maternal uncle. With eight years of experience with his uncle, Bakary now has a good command of this trade and is much appreciated and in high demand in Bougouni.

In his search for supplemental financial resources to make his workshop more profitable (by equipping it with the electrical power indispensable for his work), Bakary decided to join the loan program of the micro-finance institution Soro Yiriwaso. He is now on his first individual loan. This loan will be used to cover the costs of joining the power grid of the energy company of Mali Société Énergie du Mali (EDM) for his workshop located in the area where he lives.

With customers from all walks of life, he envisions realizing a monthly profit of 25,000 francs CFA that will be used to improve his enterprise. His ambition is to attract more customers and to do better in satisfying them.

Stay tuned for the next Kiva Pledge Update on August 16th.

About a month ago, it was announced that the United States Agency for International Development was teaming up with Western Union and a host of other partners to provide funding in the range of $50-100k and technical assistance to members of the African diaspora based in the U.S., desiring to build businesses in their home country. Among other criteria, loan recipients must also have a local partner residing in the country they intend on doing business.

The idea behind USAID granting loans to the African diaspora is to utilize the knowledge of local conditions that those in the African diaspora have as well as tap into the immense human capital that exists in African immigrants who want to invest back into their home countries.

I believe this is part of a larger effort of a transformation to open up aid efforts to those who have the potential to change their own circumstances if given the opportunity. Depending on how much red tape is involved, I’m hoping this is a worthy and successful effort by USAID. Time will tell.

USAID has set up a website called the African Diaspora Marketplace with full details: http://www.diasporamarketplace.org/