Mohamed Jagitay

Thank you for your loan. It has been disbursed to Mohamed Jagitay by CCF - Salone Microfinance Trust in Sierra Leone. We are excited to watch this business grow. Over the next 12 months, CCF - Salone Microfinance Trust will be collecting repayments from this entrepreneur and posting progress updates on the Kiva website.

After two failed attempts to find your Kiva Borrower, Mohamed Jagitay, in his home village of Dogolaia, we saw him on his motorbike in nearby Kabala dropping off a customer. His Loan Officer from Salone Microfinance Trust (SMT) and I literally ran him down to talk to him. When he saw who it was, he was more than willing to sit and chat with us.

If you recall from his original loan posting, Mohamed had plans to use the loan to increase his stock at his general store in Dogolaia and expand his business. Since the loan disbursement, Mohamed has decided to focus on other business endeavors. He is now spending most of his time in the transportation and petroleum business.

Using profits from his general store and the capital from the SMT loan, Mohamed bought a motorbike (seen in picture) to begin a transport service between Dogolaia and Kabala. From experience I can tell you that the road between Dogolaia and Kabala is in horrible condition, particularly during the rain season. Transport, of any kind, is not easy on that road. In the current dry season, a red fog of dust engulfs the road and the people traveling on it. His motorbike business, however, earns Mohamed about 50,000 Leones per day or $16.67 USD. It’s a very profitable business for him as a supplement to his general store and petroleum sales. Blinded by strong profits, he didn’t mention once the hardships of driving in the dust every day.

Mohamed’s petroleum sales are also very profitable these days. He recently purchased 1.5 drums of petrol. Previously, he was only able to afford one-half drum, but the SMT loan has helped boost his supply. On a normal day, Mohamed sells a liter of petrol for 3,500 Leones or $1.17 USD, which converts to 28,000 Leones or $9.33 per gallon. However, on days like today, when there’s a shortage of petrol in Kabala, Mohamed is selling a liter of petrol for 7,000 Leones.

With the profits from his business endeavors, Mohamed has aspirations to buy and rear cattle. Cattle, in addition to being a source of collateral, can be tremendously profitable if they are raised properly. Mohamed anticipates selling the cattle when they are fully grown in about 5 years for a handsome 2-3 million in profit per cow. Two or three cows will buy Mohamed a home.

To view SMT loans currently being funded on Kiva, please visit:

http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&partner_id=57&status=fundRaising&sortBy=New+to+Old

To view all SMT loans currently being paid back, please visit:

http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&partner_id=57&status=All&sortBy=New+to+Old

If you’re interested in learning more about the challenges SMT’s agricultural clients faced this harvest season and possible solutions to these problems, please read my most recent blog titled “Seeds of Change” on the Kiva Fellows blog page:

http://fellowsblog.kiva.org/2008/12/13/seeds-of-change/

Regards,

Adam Grenier

Kiva Fellow, Fall 2008

Sierra Leone