A loan helped to purchase 300 sewing machines to help increase the income of women textile entrepreneurs in rural Kenya.


Cherehani Africa's story

This loan may have higher risk but higher impact. Learn more here.

Problem
Only 7% of Kenyan women borrow money to expand their businesses and only 12% borrow from a formal financial institution. Despite the proliferation of digital financial services in Kenya, the gender gap in financial account ownership has grown. This financing gap inhibits women micro-entrepreneurs’ economic self-sufficiency.

Solution
‘Cherehani’ is the Swahili word for sewing machine. Cherehani Africa leverages technology to provide women micro-entrepreneurs with productive assets like sewing machines, bundled with personalized financial education and market information. Cherehani’s service offering has three elements:
The first is a customer relationship management system, which aggregates customer data, allowing Cherehani to offer tailored terms for subsequent offerings. The second component is the learning platform; built to provide information to customers regarding market insights and financial education. The third key element is Cherehani’s choice not to go digital only. They believe it’s important to have human touch to build women’s trust and confidence in using digital products; Cherehani does this through their network of field officers.

Impact
Cherehani currently serves over 5,000 active customers. Customers on average increase their annual income by $112. Their goal is to serve 15,000 customers by the end of 2019.


This loan is special because:

it enables women micro-entrepreneurs to access efficient sewing machines to increase their income.



Loan details


Lenders and lending teams




Loan details