Sharifah N. is 19 years old and lives in the town of Bulenga in the Kampala region of Uganda. She is single and has no children. Sharifah has a business of selling vegetables, which she has had for less than one year. Sharifah also has a business selling charcoal.

To help expand her business, Sharifah has requested a loan of 200,000 Ugandan Shillings from BRAC Uganda. The loan will be used to purchase more charcoal and vegetables. With the help of the loan from BRAC, Sharifah hopes to generate greater profits and sometimes buy food at home. In the future, Sharifah hopes to own a beauty salon. Sharifah is a member of BRAC’s Empowerment and Livelihood for Adolescents (ELA) program, which has helped her prospects for the future by teaching her the skills of getting a job and how to read.

Note to lenders: BRAC Uganda has recently begun posting a new loan product to Kiva which funds young entrepreneurs in BRAC’s Empowerment and Livelihood for Adolescents (ELA) program. This Kiva borrower is receiving a new ELA loan. The ELA program first provides disadvantaged adolescents, usually girls who are out of school, with livelihood training and financial literacy skills. Afterward, ELA participants can receive microfinance loans to expand their small businesses. These loans offer adolescents a unique chance to access finance at a young age and improve their prospects for the future, and target a segment of the population not typically served by traditional microfinance. Kiva is privileged to partner with BRAC Uganda in posting these new loans, and give Kiva lenders the opportunity to fund deserving young entrepreneurs and support a promising new sector in microfinance.