Sabali (La Sagesse) Group

The five women of the Sabali group are all married; they have an average age of 43 and on average, 4 children. They live in big traditional extended families in the Darsalam 2 district of the town of Koutiala (Sikasso region, Republic of Mali). They know each other because of being neighbors.

They do more or less the same work, selling cereals (millet, sorghum, dried beans, fonio--a kind of native millet, etc.) Moreover, they sell clothing along with their main work.

In order to satisfy the needs of their ever-growing clientele, the Sabali group decided to join the micro-finance institution Soro Yiriwaso, with whom they are on their tenth solidarity loan (group loan). All the preceding loans have been correctly reimbursed.

They expect to use this loan to buy sacks of cereal and clothing. They buy their cereals at a reasonable price in the villages of Yangasso, Zangasso, and Karangasso. As for the clothing, it is bought in Bamako (capital of the Republic of Mali) and in Bobo in Burkina Faso, a neighboring country. The cereals are retailed in the market in Koutiala and out of their homes. As for the clothing, it is sold door-to-door, out of their homes, and in the market at Koutiala. They each hope to make an average profit of 200,000 F CFA over the course of this loan cycle; the profit will be used to pay the interest on the loan and to cover expenses for their extended families, with any remainder being reinvested in their businesses. Their ambition is to diversify their businesses by taking on other income-generating activities such as making and selling bean fritters.

Translated from French by Teresa Kramer, Kiva Volunteer