Meeting with women entrepreneurs in Togo village

Join the program of offering small loans and education in business skills to social entrepreneurs in the rural villages in Togo.

SUPPORTING LOCAL ENTREPRENEURS IN TOGO

We support local entrepreneurs in Togo’s distant rural areas in launching and scaling up their business endeavours.

Through developing their own business, these people make an effort to find a way out of poverty and out of dependency on foreign aid. We help by offering small loans and education in business skills.

Action10 runs the program in cooperation with HR&S and our local partner L&D.

SMALL LOANS AND EDUCATION IN BUSINESS SKILLS TO VILLAGERS

Lack of capital, rather than ideas, restricts people from setting up their own businesses.

With the help of small loans to develop a business, villagers can improve their living standards. Apart from giving them loans, we also train them in the necessary skills to create a sustainable business for the long term.

In such a way, they can provide for their life and family also after Action10 support ends.

BENEFITS FOR THE WHOLE COMMUNITY – CREATING LOCAL MARKETS AND SCALING-UP THROUGH EDUCATION

With the small loans and education in business skills that Action10, HR&S, and L&D offer, local entrepreneurs can launch a small-scale business. It can be anything from producing and selling food, drinks, medicine, and clothing to attending to people’s hair.

Sharing knowledge and business skills with these entrepreneurs in Togo is just as important as the loan itself.

Our previous partner for this program, S.E.VIE, has created a bespoke training program, suited to local people’s learning needs. It gives the program participants long-lasting knowledge about earning a profit, saving, and reinvesting into the business.

The gained knowledge and business skills can result in a higher standard of living, increased access to health care and education for children.

HOW THE MONEY FROM LOANS IS REUSED

The entrepreneurs are organized into groups. Together they share a collective responsibility for meeting loan repayments. Therefore, if one entrepreneur is not able to make a repayment one week, the group will pay it back on time.

The 99% repayment rate on loans at the beginning of the program contributed to its financial sustainability.

Loans are collected every week, and money can be given out again immediately.

This means that when the loan is paid back, another person receives resources to start his/her business.

Action10 receives 10% annual interest on the loans to cover the costs of coaching L&D, while the extra profit becomes L&D´s income.

THE PROGRAM ACHIEVEMENTS – 330 PEOPLE STARTED SMALL BUSINESSES

Since 2012, when we established this program, 330 people have taken a small loan. As a result, they started various businesses, such as sales of maize, beans, and cakes, as well as sales of apparel (bags, clothes, and shoes).

USER-DRIVEN PROGRAM, ACCOUNTABILITY MANAGEMENT, AND SUSTAINABLE ECONOMY

All Action10 programs are user-driven. It means that the partners and local social entrepreneurs ideate, initiate, and manage the program.

Accountability management is one of our ActionAreas. We offer this service to our loan takers and partners. Read more about how we work regarding accountability management and sustainable economy on Human Rights & Science website.