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Oxfam in Khartoum: A small start brings a mobile future
11 Jan 2009 13:33:00 GMT
 Source: Oxfam GB - UK
Oxfam GB

Website: Website: http://www.flickr.com/photos/oxfamsudan/sets/72157611283643364/

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Fatima Hamid outside her shop
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Fatima Hamid outside her shop
Oxfam/Alun McDonald

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"In poor communities, when people have ideas and determination, just a little bit of help can have an enormous impact," says Salwa Marhoum, Oxfam's Project Officer in Khartoum. "Through microfinance - giving small loans - we aim to create the opportunity for them to lift themselves out of poverty."

While the centre of Khartoum, Sudan's capital city, has experienced massive growth and development over the past few years, many communities in the sprawling suburbs have been left behind. There are few opportunities to earn an income, no regular supply of electricity or water, and limited access to basic services such as healthcare and education. Oxfam works with local partners and women's groups in some of the city's poorest neighbourhoods.

According to Salwa Marhoum: "Many people come up with interesting ideas for small businesses to help them make a living - but they do not have the capital to get them started. That's where we come in. They can apply to the local community group for a loan, and if we think it's a good idea then they receive in-kind equipment and support - usually worth just a few hundred dollars. Gradually the business grows, they can repay the loan, and they make the profits that they need to send their children to school, build a new home, or put food on the table."

Fatima Hamid, a divorced single mother, took her first loan, worth $250, two years ago. She set up a small shop selling credit for mobile phones - capitalising on a booming new technology.

"There has been a lot of growth in the mobile phone industry here over the past couple of years. Now so many people have a mobile - even in poor communities. I have a lot of potential customers. I sell credit for all the major phone companies. I buy them in bulk so that I get a discount from the company, and then I make a small commission on every card I sell. It's only a few pennies per card but I can sell hundreds of cards.

"Business is very good. I've taken three loans over the past two years, and repaid them all. It's growing - the first loan was 500 Sudanese pounds ($250) and the most recent was 1,500 pounds ($750). I think mobile phones are going to keep getting more popular, and I want to keep expanding the business."

Establishing a successful business has helped Fatima to look after her eight-year-old daughter. Most of the money she makes goes on providing food, clothes and housing.

"My mother died when I was young and I had to help my father around the home. I still managed to go to school but I left at 14 to get married. I had a daughter, but then I got divorced from my husband. I got married far too early - I was very young. Now I have to take care of my daughter alone. It has been very difficult. The shop has helped change my life for the better.

"I always regretted not finishing school. So now I have gone back to study again. I am going to sit my Higher Secondary School exams this year. If I do well, maybe I will go to university. The busiest time for my shop is in the evenings - so I can study in the daytime and run the shop at night.

"Education will help give me more ideas. This is a poor area, and I have to be innovative and find new ways of meeting the needs of my customers. The big companies sell phone cards for 10 pounds ($5) - but lots of people here cannot afford to pay so much in one go. So I also offer a service called Mobile Money Transfer, where we transfer credit from one phone to another. This way people only have to pay 2 pounds a time and it's more affordable."

Salwa Marhoum says Fatima's story is not unusual, and there are many more budding entrepreneurs just trying to find an opportunity. "Nearly all of the people who receive loans make a profit. Sometimes it is a lot, other times it is just enough to provide food for their family. But it is always amazing to see how a fairly small amount of money can really make a difference to people's lives."

For more examples of how people in Khartoum's poorest communities have turned their loans into thriving businesses, visit:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/oxfamsudan/sets/72157611283643364/




[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]

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[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]

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