Antoinnette is a retailer, a member of the Tuongozane credit group, and a client of the microfinance institution Hekima. She is a 56-year-old widow and the mother of eight children, four of whom are in school while the other four are adults already.
For the past three years, Antoinnette has been selling food products from her home located along one of the city’s main streets. She is going to use her loan to buy 170 kilos of potatoes. She started her business with some capital received from her husband when he was still alive.
Antoinnette wants to be able to feed and clothe her children, and continue to pay their school fees. She thanks Hekima for the support they provide to entrepreneurs who are excluded from the traditional banking system.
Additional Information
Important Information
HEKIMA is a microfinance institution headquartered in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), with branch offices in Goma and Bukavu. HEKIMA aims to contribute to the transformation of the economic, social, and spiritual lives of the economically active poor of the DRC. To this end, HEKIMA provides its clients with solidarity group loans to support income-generating activities. Despite ongoing instability and violence in its operating areas, HEKIMA continues to keep its doors open and provide credit and savings services for its over 90% female clientele.
This is a Group Loan
In a group loan, each member of the group receives an individual loan but is part of a larger group of individuals. The group is there to provide support to the members and to provide a system of peer pressure, but groups may or may not be formally bound by a group guarantee. In cases where there is a group guarantee, members of the group are responsible for paying back the loans of their fellow group members in the case of delinquency or default.
Kiva’s Field Partners typically feature one borrower from a group. The loan description, sector, and other attributes for a group loan profile are determined by the featured borrower’s loan. The other members of the group are not required to use their loans for the same purpose.