Project design & implementation

Background, 2010 Through the many visits that S.E.VIE performed in the rural villages in the Zio prefecture in Togo during 2010 and 2011, the association identified yet neglected but potential economic development opportunities of these villages.  Women from villages struggle every day to run their business. Even though they have a strong and detailed project; microfinance companies have given up on them. The women do not have enough financial resources to manage the farming and they have been excluded from regular microfinance institute. Isolated in the countryside and with no real guarantee to offers a loan giver; villagers desperately need money to invest and be able to develop their activities.  Yet, the Banks and the Microfinance institutions do not intervene in the remote areas of Togo.

Opportunity for collaboration Therefore, in 2012 S.E.VIE and Action10 decided to implement a programme addressing community services through social enterprising in rural Togo. The scope of the programme was to support women and men, who wanted to start social enterprises which should provide community services. SEVIE and Action10  jointly provide loans to the business managers, mostly women, with 10 % annual interest, combined with training and coaching in all areas required for success.

Outcome The first step was a pilot in Foulany Kondji in 2012. It gathered 30 women. The business managers (Target Partners) came together in a village group called an assembly, for which a president, a secretary and a counsellor was elected. Inside this assembly, cooperatives of 4 to 6 women are created. Each woman received a certain amount of money according to their project and the payback was collective. The activity in Foulany Kondji grew successfully every year and gave rise to an assembly with 200 women and a few men. During a period of six years, the programme grew and was adopted by eight villages. The approach is embracing all aspects of community services. The programme on the field comprises of peoples with small business such as; sales of maize, beans, cakes, rice, yams and fruits, bags, clothes, shoes, drugs, goats, local drinks, local food and hairdressers.

2012 – 2018
During the first years of the programme the business owners paid back at the level of in average 90%. They appreciated the opportunity and the training. They complained about a too limited amount of coaching and they would have wished for larger amount of funds. The first phase of the programme was concluded 2018, and had then reached eight villages and one semi-urban location and 300 business owners. 

2020 Review
A new phase of the village programme was initiated in 2020, after a session of reflections over lessons learned. The situation was the same as when performing the previous review in 2010. Several financial institutions are in operation but these are more concentrated in the major cities of the country. The loan conditions in these institutions are generally difficult, especially the securities or the guarantees make the poorest left out, and especially the women. Several other projects are initiated by the government (FNFI, etc.) for these vulnerable population, but few are still involved. Many people,
especially women, in order to survive and support the education of their children run rural small-scale businesses. There are still many of them
who seek financial support to boost their daily activities.

The new phase of the village programme  initiated in 2020,  targeted  four villages and 200 business owners. HR&S aims to continue support vulnerable populations in order to improve their livelihoods through social entrepreneurship for a sustainable economy. To do this, HR&S partner with M. Yawo AHIAKPONOU for a programme where small credits are offered to members of the poor population in remote villages, especially women, for a renewable period during three years. M. Yawo AHIAKPONOU is from these villages himself and was supporting S.E.VIE with the implementation of the previous phase of the programme. M. Yawo AHIAKPONOU wanted to see the programme success and pointed out lessons to be learned and informed decisions to be taken.

2020-2023
This project supports 200 women in rural Togo to establish sustainable businesses. These are ladies that have come forward and requested support from HR&S. The support is in the form of loans, training, coaching weekly interactions on accounting and programme management and local support with sorting out challenges. The women group themselves into an assembly per village with a leader and an accountant as well as cooperatives of 3-6 persons, and the cooperatives are responsible for the paying back of the funds. The cooperatives thus constitute the guarantees. The loan is paid back with 10 % interest, and the interest pays for the local training and coaching by the local programme management team. The local programme management team of three persons is composed of villagers from the same region as the programme is implemented, and they have also come forward and offered to manage the programme on-site.

Project design & implementation

Background, 2010 Through the many visits that S.E.VIE performed in the rural villages in the Zio prefecture in Togo during 2010 and 2011, the association identified yet neglected but potential economic development opportunities of these villages.  Women from villages struggle every day to run their business. Even though they have a strong and detailed project; microfinance companies have given up on them. The women do not have enough financial resources to manage the farming and they have been excluded from regular microfinance institute. Isolated in the countryside and with no real guarantee to offers a loan giver; villagers desperately need money to invest and be able to develop their activities.  Yet, the Banks and the Microfinance
institutions do not intervene in the remote areas of Togo.

Opportunity for collaboration Therefore, in 2012 S.E.VIE and Action10 decided to implement a programme addressing community services through social enterprising in rural Togo. The scope of the programme was to support women and men, who wanted to start social enterprises which should provide community services. SEVIE and Action10  jointly provide loans to the business managers, mostly women, with 10 % annual interest, combined with training and coaching in all areas required for success.

Outcome The first step was a pilot in Foulany Kondji in 2012. It gathered 30 women. The business managers (Target Partners) came together in a village group called an assembly, for which a president, a secretary and a counsellor was elected. Inside this assembly, cooperatives of 4 to 6 women are created. Each woman received a certain amount of money according to their project and the payback was collective. The activity in Foulany Kondji grew successfully every year and gave rise to an assembly with 200 women and a few men. During a period of six years, the programme grew and was adopted by eight villages. The approach is embracing all aspects of community services.The programme on the field comprises of peoples with small business such as; sales of maize, beans, cakes, rice, yams and fruits, bags, clothes, shoes, drugs, goats, local drinks, local food and hairdressers.

Seeking support

Ambition. Together we can empower individuals in Africa who are interested in creating micro-businesses. We will provide small loans for business investments as well as training and coaching to entrepreneurs in the rural areas of the Maritime Region in Togo. In February 2021, we reached our initial funding goal of EUR 10,000 for the 2020-2021 phase of the programme, and agreed to increase the target to support more villagers to become self-sustaining.

Future When all 200 micro-businesses have proven sustainable, the loan is paid back to the HR&S country bank account in Togo and can then be used to support another 200 women, and again and again. The second phase of the programme that started in 2020 and is expected to become sustainable in 2025. HR&S and Action10 fundraises to be able to ensure a capital of EUR 15,000. The funds are provided as smaller instalments with parallel programme management coaching and auditing, to make the programme sustainable.