Annah Mwikya

Annah is currently employed as a waitress in a restaurant in Nairobi, but her income is meager. In addition, Annah also has a stall in Kayole, where she sells a variety of cereals to the members of her community. After she completed school, she went to live with her aunt who was in business and she would often be left to sell cereals on her aunt's behalf. It was here that she learnt how to take care of a business. This responsibility also influenced her to consider starting up her own business. At the same time, she also joined a "merry-go-round group" and began to make small savings. A merry-go-round group is a community group where Kenyan women, or sometimes men, contribute a small amount of money to a fund on a regular basis. Each member of the group receives the whole sum at some point during a fixed cycle. It is a type of forced savings in a place where saving money is very difficult for various reasons.

In the year 2002, Annah decided to make the move to start off her own business. Using her savings from the "merry-go-round group" amounting to Ksh. 10,000 (about US$ 140), she started to buy Pishori rice from Mwea (the rice production area in Kenya) and then packed it into units of two kilos and sold them from door to door. With the earnings and profits, she increased the stock, and as the business continued to grow, in the year 2003, she moved on and using her salary of about Ksh. 8,000 (about US$ 115) she opened up a stall.

Annah then bought scales and a pressure lamp and began to stock up the stall; the demand continued to grow. The business has been running well since and has greatly helped her to manage her responsibilities. Her younger sister assists her at the stall when Annah is on duty as a waitress, but when off duty, Annah does the sales herself.

Annah would like to receive a loan that will enable her to boost her stock, so that she can meet the needs of all her customers. She is therefore requesting a loan of USD 750, with which she will be able to buy a greater variety of cereals and in larger quantities, hence her customers will not be forced to go out to other shops looking for what they could not get from her shop. The loan will also enable her to increase her profits. She intends to repay her loan over a period of 12 months.