Loan to buy solar - powered lanterns to catch fish

Joseph

Lwanda Nyamasare, Kenya

100% repaid

Follow Joseph

How it Works

Entrepreneur

Name

Joseph

Member since

April 2015

On-time repayments

33 installments • 61%

About Me

My name is Joseph Nyambune, I was born in Central Kanyamwa, Homa Bay County, Kenya. I come from a poor family background and my parents are small scale farmers. I went to school for my primary and later secondary school where I performed relatively well in academics. I had a desire to further my education after my secondary school but I had to give my other siblings a chance to get the same level of education as me. My parents could not afford to take me to college at the same time paying fees for the young ones.

After school, I started looking for a job aggressively and I was lucky to secure a job as a shop attendant in Kisumu. The shop dealt with sale of small items like toys, earrings, playing cards etc. The turnover was good and but the pay was very little. I used my time there to learn how the business is run and I am very grateful to my first employer because she taught me many business matters.

I am married and in my mid 40s and I am hoping to expand my business using loans raised from ZIDISHA Microfinance lenders.

My Business

After working in my first job for five years, I realized that I need to make a move so as to realize my dreams of getting a better quality life and also that of my siblings. With savings I had made over the two years, and with blessings from my former employer, I decided to start fishing business in Lake Victoria, where I catch small fish (omena) at night using keresone-powered lantern lamps.

With challenges, I have managed to keep the business going for 2 years now. The business has grown and I now make a profit of about $100 per month. I am hoping to double this figure soon if I can get a good credit line like Zidisha. The growth of my business has been limited by lack of credit and I am hoping that I won’t have to worry much about that since Zidisha will take care of my credit needs.

Loan Proposal

I am seeking a loan of KES 18,024 from ZIDISHA Lenders to add with my savings of KES 4,000 so that I can buy eight energy saving solar-powered lantern lamps to help me reduce the cost of buying kerosene fuel for use in lamps for night time fishing. The kerosene powered lamps are not environmental friendly and is not economic productive for the fishing business, I look forward to increasing my income per day from KES 900 to KES 1,700 due to savings on fuel purchase as I will be using energy saving and environmental -friendly solar-powered lamps to catch fish and increase my daily income.