Ntonifor Micheal Nfoneh

Thank you for your loan. It has been disbursed to Ntonifor Micheal Nfoneh by GHAPE in Cameroon. We are excited to watch this business grow. Over the next 18 - 24 months, GHAPE will be collecting repayments from this entrepreneur and posting progress updates on the Kiva website.

Michael Ntonifor joined GHAPE after his retirement after many years of working in highway construction and repair, when he needed to find a new way of supporting himself. He began rearing animals, which turns a good profit but does not require as much physical effort. With the loan he took last July, he bought four piglets and 50 young chickens. He also began a firewood business, buying uncut wood and splitting it to be sold in bundles.

Unfortunately, Pa Michael has faced some challenges with his animal rearing in the last year. He said that of the fifty chickens he bought, twenty died. He was able to sell 20 and he still has ten remaining. On the day we visited Pa Michael, he had just found another tragedy – one of his four young pigs dead of unknown cause. He was visibly saddened by the death of his pig, both because of the lost of the investment – a full-grown pig can be sold for 60-65,000 CFA ($150) – and because of the threat of disease spreading to his remaining pigs. He explained that he would now need to take precautions to keep his remaining three pigs healthy.

Despite these challenges, Pa Michael says he has been able to turn a small profit and has had no trouble repaying his loan so far. He had two large pigs from a previous litter, which he sold for 60,000 and 65,000 CFA (about $150) recently. His firewood business has also been a steady source of income. He says that he usually splits and sells 6 bundles of wood every two weeks, earning about 5,000 CFA ($12.50) in profit. Although his first flock of fowl did not bring much profit, since 20 died, he says that he has learned from the experience and has plans to invest more in his fowl. He showed us a shed where he is beginning to build a bigger and better chicken coop.

This is the main source of income for Pa Michael and his second wife. His first wife died some years ago and Pa tends to her grave, which is next to his house. His second wife is a farmer and helps Pa with keeping the animals, and also grows staple crops – maize, Irish potatoes, and cocoyams – for subsistence. Pa says that the gains he has been able to make since joining GHAPE have allowed him to pay to send his youngest child to university in Yaounde, the capital of Cameroon, which costs nearly 200,000 CFA ($500) per year. He also proudly showed us a brand new addition next to his house (see photo) that he was able to build with his profits. This structure cost nearly 200,000 CFA in materials and labor.

Pa Michael sends his greetings and thanks to those who financed his loan, and he adds, “I really need more help from them [in the future] so I can improve life for my family and community; I hope to help my wife improve our farm with my next loan.”