Initiative for Education and Development - Financial Inclusion and Empowerment (FINER) SUCCESS STORIES

Background on FINER:
Financial inclusion is a deliberate program to ensure individuals and business persons to have access to useful and
affordable financial products and services that meet their needs, transactions, payments, savings, credit and
insurance delivered in a responsible and sustainable way. Despite this laudable programme, most poor and business
people in the world still lack access to sustainable financial services, whether it is savings, credit or insurance. The
great challenge before us is to address the constraints that exclude people from full participation in the financial
sector. It is on this basis as well as to support World Bank Group to achieve Universal Financial Access 2020
initiative as well as to make contribution toward attainment of SDGs Goal 1 and 8 respectively that IDEE is
establishing business loan.

Process of establishing the group:

IDEE –FINER program was explained to Mrs. Mary Adekule and she in turn mobilized nine women and FINER
orientation was given to them. After the orientation session all of them were registered that very day and financial
support was provided to them after two weeks of the registration.

About the group:

Next level group was formed in March 2017 in Tudun –wada community of FCT Abuja Nigeria. The group began with
ten people and they unanimously choose Mrs. Mary Adekule as their leader whereas the group has no secretary.

After prospected them some met the requirement to access IDEE loan but some didn’t however the group leader
insisted and financial was provided to all of them in march and by august 2017 the ten beneficiaries completed their
first loan cycle without default and had taken second loan also thirty people were registered into the group and
presently next level group has forty members some were in third loan cycle, second and first.

Profile of the participant:

Mrs. Hadiza Jimoh is a mother of one child and a professional fashion designer. However, her shop was not in
strategic place which affected her patronage.

Benefit of the loan

She paid her daughter’s school fees, supported family feeding and diversified into selling of sewing materials
(thread, needle and lining).

What has changed in her life?

Her income level increased; got new shop, expand her business and more customers.
Voices her statement

“I thank IDEE because the loan has given me a shop at a strategic place and people are patronizing me than when I
was at my former shop. This had helped me to have plenty clients and I am making more profit than before’

Next step
She needs more money to expand her sewing material business.

Suggestion:

Because she invested the first loan and having completed the first loan cycle successfully, she should be given second
loan.

Profile of participant:
Mrs. Johnson Mercy is a 65 years old mother of four who sells foodstuffs and grinding machine. She lives in Waru
community
BENEFIT OF THE LOAN:
The loan has really improved her business by enabling her to meet her customers’ demands

WHAT HAS CHANGED IN HER LIFE

Her stand of living has improved; she is relieved of anxiety and her mind is free from worry of poverty of lack and
want.
WHAT HAS CHANGED IN HER BUSINESS?
She buys in bulk and has varieties of goods that meet her customers demand. Moreover her shop has expanded.

WHAT HAS CHANGED IN HER FAMILY?

Her income level has increased and she could support her husband by paying children school fees, feeding .Also, she
can buy her own personal items and solve personal needs.
VOICES OF HER STATEMENT:
‘I thank IDEE for granting me loan. Before the loan my shop was empty but after the loan I was able to fill my shop
with goods for sale which yielded profit for me’
NEXT STEP:
She needs more money to expand business

A Case Study of Jimoh Babatunde Mudasiru:

Poverty Reduction and Empowerment is a major issue that called for concern so in order to address this issue
Initiative for Education and Empowerment (IDEE) began a programme called Financial inclusion and
Empowerment (FINER) where active and nominal poor in the community access financial support (Loan) to boast
their businesses and as well as start-up a business. For effectiveness of the scheme Group lending approach was
adopted this means individual must be in a group to access the loan. In this perspective groups were formed
regardless of ethnic diversities and religious differences. So far three hundred and twenty one people (321) have
access to financial support from IDEE and in our impact assessment it was revealed that many beneficiary
businesses and their living standard has tremendously improved. One among the people that their business
improved was Mal Jimoh of Next- Level Group
Mal Jimoh Babatunde Mudasiru held from Osugbo local Government Area of Osun state Nigeria but currently
residing in Tudun-wada community. Tudun-wada is a slum settlement in Lugbe under Abuja municipal Area council
(AMAC) of FCT, Abuja Nigeria.

Mal Jimoh Babatunde Mudasiru

Jimoh’s tailoring journey began in 2003 and his big challenges were fund to support his business and medium to
advertise his product and he was battling with this problem up until he met IDEE and at this point his sumec
fireman petrol generator was broken and he has no money to fix it and at this period he was not meeting up with
deadlines and this has cause him to lost many customers; but after accessed fifty thousand loan from IDEE he fixed
up the generator and was able to sew all the customers cloth and made marginal profit which has enable him to paid
back a loan for twenty three weeks (23) in three (3) weeks. Furthermore Jimoh revealed that after attended IDEE
principle of business success training he increased knowledge on the rudiment of advertisement and since he has
been advertising his product since them till today and he thanked IDEE for the financial support and the training. In
his word “through IDEE I was able to win back all my customers and also advertised my products.
Also through IDEE I was able to hired two staff working for me”.

MISS: Faith Ogebe Mal: Kabiru Tijani.

These are the two staff hired by Jimoh Babatunde
SUGGESTION:
She invested the first loan and, having completed the first loan cycle successfully recommends her for the next loan