Goma, North Kivu province, Congo (Dem. Rep.) Health | Pharmacy
Josephine is an entrepreneur; she runs her own pharmacy on a busy road in town and acts as the treasurer for the Atuwezeshe Credit Group, a client of IMF Hekima. She is a 46-year-old married mother to nine children, all of whom are currently receiving educations.
She plans on purchasing pharmaceutical products to bolster her businesses. She started this activity 10 years ago with the capital she earned through a livestock-raising venture. Finally, she would like to thank Hekima for the support they give to entrepreneurs excluded from the traditional banking system.
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.