The Small Enterprise Foundation is giving many South African entrepreneurs the tools to turn their dreams into reality.
In 1992, Lina Masipa was a grandmother living with her husband and grandchildren in the rural Limpopo village of Sekarkeng, with 700 other villagers. She didn’t have a job and the family’s only source of income was her elderly husband. That’s when her life changed: she was introduced to the Small Enterprise Foundation, who assist with microfinancing for fledgling companies; in this case, Lina was given $100 to start her business.
Lina went from selling small items like peanuts to selling African cloths and dresses and other produce that she has been able to buy thanks to her loan and her husband. She has bettered her family life – before the Small Enterprise Foundation’s loan, there was barely money for food; now Lina is paying for her grandchildren’s university and she has a bigger, more comfortable house over her head.
One of the Small Enterprise Foundation’s core aims is to provide assistance to women around South Africa who have been marginalised in the past and held back by past regimes. They also help these women to hold monthly status meetings and provide financial planning assistance to make sure that they are moving in the right direction and making a positive contribution to their communities through their business ventures.
While micro financing isn’t the solution to poverty around South Africa, it makes a massive contribution to smaller, more tight-knit communities, like Lina and the rest of Sekarkeng, to give themselves a better lifestyle and living conditions while imparting entrepreneurial skills. Leading from the front in this financial assistance is the Small Enterprise Foundation, and who knows, they might just find the next Bill Gates through their microfinancing scheme.
Visit the Small Enterprise Foundation at their website www.sef.co.za
The Small Enterprise Foundation is giving many South African entrepreneurs the tools to turn their dreams into reality.