Marian Conteh's Group

The Marian Group is named after the group's leader. All the members are businesswomen in Makeni, the northern provincial headquarters town. They have been a group with SMT for the past two years now and are now in their fourth cycle. Previously, SMT loaned these women Le 600,000.00 each. This they have repaid successfully, and they are now requesting a new loan. The previous loan made a big difference in their lives, but they still need more loans to further empower themselves in their businesses.

The group leader is Marian Conteh. Marian was born in Magburaka, Tonkolili District, in northern Sierra Leone, 38 years ago. She is married with two school-going children, both of whom are in secondary school. Both she and her husband, who is a businessman, are responsible for their children's schooling and welfare. Through her groundnut trade, Marian is able to meet most of her financial needs. She has been in the groundnut business for the past 15 years. Marian is doing fine in her business, but she still faces a lot of challenges. First, the amount that SMT's credit officer approved for her and her group members is not enough. She had wanted Le 1,000,000.00. This would have enabled her to purchase more bags of groundnuts, and as the dry seasoning is fast approaching, she expects a boom in business. Second, sometimes some of the groundnuts within a bag may be rotten, which means some losses for her business. However, with this loan of Le 800,000.00 approved for Marian, she will be able to buy at least three bags of groundnuts to add to her current stock.



About Group Loans
In a group loan, each member of the group receives an individual loan but is part of a group of individuals bound by a group guarantee. Under this arrangement, each member of the group supports one another and is responsible for paying back the loans of their fellow group members if someone is delinquent or defaults. Learn more

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