UGANDA

The Micro-credit revolving loan (MCRL) Program was first initiated in 2008 in Uganda. SSF started with 25 women in 5 separate base community groups with an initial fund of US $20,000. Since then, the fund has grown to over US $250,000. As of December 2021, the MCRL had 3,258 female clients active in 14 base community groups from 24 different villages. Effectively, there is a 99% repayment rate on loans disbursed, largely due to the trust established between the women in each group, and trust of the program’s field support staff. 

MALAWI

SSF- Malawi has adopted the best processes exemplified in Uganda. Revitalized in May of 2022, a group of 28 women have once again been given support from SSF through the efforts of Cynthia (Cee) Maulidi, SSF’s Program Manager. The goal is to expand this program to another base community group and village in the rural areas outside of Lilongwe. Much like the microfinance clients in Uganda, these women are encouraged to adopt a “savings culture” to shoulder unforeseen expenses that undoubtedly emerge given their living in resource-compromised communities.

ONTARIO, CANADA

In partnership with Sovereign Core, SSF is readying itself to embark on a similar investment program within black (African Diaspora) ethnocultural communities in the Durham Region, Ontario, Canada. Discussions are underway with Firestarters to examine how it is that unbankable women can come together (similar to the Ugandan and Malawian base community groups) to invest and grow capital even though the formal banking system has systematically ignored them. Their community-based efforts are replicated on MCRL process models that SSF has developed in both Malawi and Uganda, a powerful and moral example of how the south can powerfully influence development in the north.