Microfinance
Shop Camp, started with Nafasi’s first microloan
How it all started
The idea of implementing a microfinance program stemmed from a pioneer project that began in 2008 when we gave a small out-of-pocket microloan of $300 to a group of 3 woodcarvers from the English class. Working from the US, we recruited a Tanzanian student and a current study abroad student to act as loan officers and business advisors. Our borrowers started a wood glue shop, opened a savings account, and paid off their debt in only eight months.
Partnering with Investours
Our efforts eventually took on the formal name of Nafasi, meaning “opportunity” in Swahili. As the project progressed, we were introduced to Investours, a successful microfinance organization that has combined tourism and microfinance to fight poverty in Oaxaca, Mexico. The Investours staff served as invaluable consultants during those early phases of our microfinance project, and that relationship quickly grew into a formal partnership.
In 2010, Katie Ranhorn returned to Dar es Salaam and opened an Investours office near Mwenge. Partnering with another local microfinance organization, they began organizing tours in Mwenge. Visitors who are part of the tour meet some of the local entrepreneurs and hear about their small business ventures; they then choose which business will receive the loan, and 100% of the tour fees go to that entrepreneur in the form of a microloan.
