Village Ndiaw Ndiaw Credit Union, Senegal, West Africa
Ndiaw Ndiaw CU (pronounced en-jow') is located 5 hours by car outside Dakar, Senegal. This is a very poor rural area and the credit union serves 13 villages. The goal is to help this credit union build capital and liquidity for loans. Growth is a necessity for this to happen which means paying a staff person so the manager can concentrate on growing the membership to make the credit union viable.
There has been no peanut crop (their main income) for 3 years due to draughts. The village pump is now operable so the village can generate some income by selling water to surrounding villages. The credit union is over 100% loaned out and they need to grow the credit union in order to become sustainable and serve their members. |
Fifty percent of the members are women and a unique feature is that the board of directors is half women as well. Once they are able to hire a full time loan person, the manager will be able to work on growing the credit union. As it now stands, the manager is not able to keep up with daily needs as well as promote the credit union.
Last year, we raised $6,000 to help them replace the funds stolen by thieves. The grant also helped them purchase a stronger safe and cement into which the safe was sunk to prevent further losses. The goal of this project is to raise enough funds to pay the salary of a loan officer for at least 5 years. In addition, we want to subsidize the manager's salary for 5 years. This means generating $5,000 each year for 5 years for a total five year grant of $25,000. |
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We are presently opening accounts for people in the U.S. to generate capital for Ndiaw Ndiaw CU to loan out. Contributors receive a passbook but receive no monthly statement and may not withdraw their funds as the money will be used as a revolving loan fund to generate income. |
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