Nokutenda Group

Loan description:

Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday. Nakirai Chigiji aged 39 did not want to rely any more on her husband’s income. They have two children who are both school going. She resides in Lochinvar, a developing suburb in Harare.

Nakirai is a member of Nokutenda group, a Shona word which means “By Faith”. Nokutenda are receiving their seventh loan. They have made six loan cycles with Thrive which they have repaid well demonstrating benefit from all the loans. With the current loan, Nakirai intends to increase her Ecocash (mobile money transfer services) float since it has been affected during her previous loan period. She lost some funds from a robbery, but managed to repay her loan from part of her savings and profits from the business. Ecocash has become the most common way of banking since people are moving to mobile banking whereby they send and receive money through their phones. She has managed to employ two boys who are salesmen in both her tuck-shop and Ecocash business.

Nokutenda have proven that hard work is the key to success. Two members of this group do poultry business and the other two have tuck-shops. Nakirai used to knit jerseys when she joined Thrive. She went through the training which gave her an insight that some businesses are seasonal. She diversified into selling fruits and vegetables where she operated under a small umbrella and a small table. She started saving from her daily sales which helped her introduce some groceries from her stall. As the demand increased, she started renting a tuck-shop in her local neighborhood to maximize her daily sales and meet the demand. With increased sales, she started operating a mobile banking cash-out and cash-in point.

During the period she had support from Thrive, Nakirai managed to buy a small car that is currently being used as a taxi and earning her revenue. She has managed to pay her children’s school fees and changed some of her personal property. In addition, she enhanced her house and is able to supply all her family needs.