Goma, North Kivu province, Congo (Dem. Rep.) Food | Food Stall
Antoinnette is a retailer, an advisor to the “Mufarji” banque villageoise and a client of IMF Hekima. Aged 60, she is a married mother of 5 children, all of whom are in education. She sells foodstuffs from her city home. Antoinnette plans to buy 4 sacks of corn to bolster her business. She began this business with the capital she received from her husband 16 years ago. She wishes to buy a plot of land and to educate and feed her children. Ultimately, she thanks Hekima for the support it has provided to entrepreneurs otherwise without access to bank credit. It is noted that some of the clients pictured are holding their babies.
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.
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.
A portion of Mufariji Group’s $4,175 loan helps a member to buy 4 sacks of corn.