Sophia J. Ismail

Mambo from Tanzania! This is 30-year-old Sophia Ismail from Mbeya, Nzovwe Street. She is single with two children, ages 2 and 8. Sophia has been running a restaurant business since 1998. A local restaurant or café in Tanzania usually consists of a rough wooden table and some long, wooden benches. The food is all local: rice, ugali (a hot sticky dough, made from maize flour), plantain (a cooked savory banana), all served with beans, vegetables, meat, and a variety of sauces.

She works at the business for 12 hours per day, 6 days per week and is assisted by one family member. Sophia currently earns about $50 USD from her business. She is requesting a loan in order to purchase items for her restaurant: rice, cooking oil, and maize flour in bulk. In the future, she plans to increase the quantity of her business. Sophia thanks you for your support!

SELFINA

SELFINA has taken a lead role as a pioneer of micro-credit in Tanzania through Micro-Leasing. The organization is engaged in the economic empowerment of women in Tanzania through the provision of a leasing and leaseback microfinance facility. Customs and traditions in Tanzania make it difficult for women to own land and assets; thus they are termed non-creditworthy by financial institutions. This leads to poor financial support and poor access to basic needs and services for women with low incomes. One of the primary advantages of micro-leasing is that it allows clients to use the equipment as collateral for future loans with SELFINA, thus enabling them to borrow larger sums in the future.

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