Meet Nemayian, an entrepreneur and business owner from Loitokitok, Kenya.
Before joining our Village Investors Programme (VIP), her family depended on her husband’s earnings from casual labour. This is a significant problem in Kenya where vulnerable employment affects 53% of those employed (World Bank, 2019), which means employees lack formal work arrangements and decent working conditions.
He would sometimes leave for weeks looking for job opportunities, and leave Nemayian with very little to spend on family necessities. This is another issue in Kenya, as almost 37% of the population are below the poverty line (World Bank, 2015).
Nemayian first heard about our VIP in 2018 and joined her local village savings and loans group. With her first loan, she paid her daughter’s school fees and repaid the loan to the group on time.
“We regularly save and loan funds to members to start a business. Our group members were trained on how to select, plan and manage a small business.”
Following this training, Nemayian took a loan and bought second hand clothes to sell at £1 – £2. Within a month and a half, she had made profit of £55 and repaid her loan.
“Life started getting better for me and my family, and that’s when I decided I should expand my business too.”
So Nemayian started buying second hand shoes, and she sold her first 20 pairs within a month and made good profit. With her entrepreneurialism enhancing, Nemayian built a stand to sell fruit and vegetables from. With the profit she was making each day, she was able to keep up the supply of fresh fruit and vegetables, as well as make money to feed her family.
Nemayian has now rented a shop to run her business from, which is now worth five times her initial investment into it.
“I’m now well respected in my community… I am a business lady. Life has got much easier.”
