Umu Mackie

Thank you for your loan. It has been disbursed to Umu Mackie 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.

We recently visited Umu at her store in downtown Kabala in northern Sierra Leone. Umu was more than willing to sit with me and talk about her business and the impact the loan has had on her life. After showing her pictures of you, her Kiva lenders, Umu wanted to give pass along her appreciation and gratefulness for your generosity. She is very thankful to have the opportunity to run her own business.

Umu is a beverage dealer with a store located in the heart of Kabala. The building where her store is located is owned by her grandfather, which means free rent for Umu. She sells cold drinks, such as juice, soda, tonic, bottled water, water packets, and various energy drinks and power shakes. She opened her store in 2003 following the civil war. She was displaced during the war at the age of 24 to Freetown, the capital city of Sierra Leone. While displaced, she could not find a paying job. Her job was to cook for her family.

From the information received during my interview with Umu and data obtained from SMT’s files, I have conducted two types of impact analyses for you to consider as a Kiva Lender to Umu. First, a fundamental analysis of her business called a “SWOT” analysis. Second, for repeat borrowers, a simple, but telling, financial analysis that illustrates the impact SMT and Kiva loans have made to Umu’s personal financial situation.

“SWOT” Analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats)

Strengths

Location, location, location! – Umu shares store space with a larger pharmacy at the main junction in downtown Kabala. She receives a lot of customer traffic at this location and is able to generate significant beverage sales.

Chilled beverages – Umu has a competitive advantage over many other stores in the area because she is able to afford electricity from a generator to run 2 refrigerators that keep her drinks cold. Customers are willing to pay a little extra for the luxury of having a cold drink over a warm drink from another store.

Weaknesses

Neither Umu nor her Loan Officer from Salone Microfinance Trust (SMT) could identify any weaknesses in her business. It’s a very viable business that generates very strong profits.

Opportunities

Mini supermarket – Umu has dreams of expanding her beverage business into a mini supermarket with food and other perishable and non-perishable goods. It’ll take significant capital to buy additional refrigeration, but she is well on her way to meeting her goal. She has the store space in the building next door to expand and renovate. She is saving money now to undergo the expansion.

Threats

Damaged goods – Umu buys 20-30 crates of beverages at a time from Freetown. In most cases, she does not accompany the goods during transport because she must stay and manage the store. There are times when 2 or 3 crates arrive already open or damaged or sold. This is an ongoing threat to the business that she has to deal with.

Financial Impact from Loans Received

The chart illustrates the change in Umu’s monthly net income over the course of the loan activity with SMT after revenues and expenses are calculated. The net income is the amount the client is able to take home to help their family each month. You can see the steady increase in Umu’s income over the course of her loan cycles with SMT.

Source: SMT MIS files. Currency conversion at time of analysis = 3000 Leones per 1 USD.

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

To read more about Sierra Leone and Salone Microfinance Trust, please visit our blog site at:

http://fellowsblog.kiva.org/category/countries/africa/sierra-leone-africa/

Regards,

Adam Grenier

Kiva Fellow, Fall 2008

Sierra Leone

Hi again.

Here's a new photo of Umu taken in front of one of her refrigerators where she stores her cold beverages.

I hope you enjoyed her journal update.

Adam