FACILITATE CLUSTER SAVINGS & LOANS

Savings & Loan Cycles

WEEP focusses on facilitating 4 x 3 month Buyam Sellam WEEP G7 loan cycles per year which enable members, together with their micro-savings, to buy and sell basic household goods like beans, cassava flour, peppers, rice, salt, sauces, soap, sugar, tomatoes and other small items. And, facilitating 3 Mixed Farming WEEP G7 loan cycles per year which enable members to produce and sell broiler chickens, potatoes and vegetables. The loan interest rate is currently 2% per month = 24% per year – low compared to other sources. Every member knows: a) they MUST always repay their loan principal + interest on time in full; b) if they default, 6 other Group members between them MUST make good loan repayment due to partner MFI; c) Each member is jointly and severally liable for any debt; and d) each WEEP G7 must be profitable and sustainable.

Micro-savings investment

WEEP G7 FRS200000 micro-savings now trigger advans Cameroon (MFI Partner) WEEP G7 FRS800000 loan = FRS1000000 (US$2105) invested in each WEEP G7 micro/ small business. These figures are increasing cycle x cycle based on performance

Micro-loans investment

When started in 2008, WEEP micro-loaned just FRS14000 (US$28) per WEEP G7. In 2014 WEEP now facilitates loans of FRS1000000+ (US$2105) per WEEP G7 per investment cycle

Buyam Sellam Business

Ayaba Buyam Sellam micro-savings FRS600000 + micro-loan FRS300000 = FRS900000. Weekly micro-savings FRS7000 (FRS1000 each member) x 52 weeks = FRS364000 in year. Group wants FRS700000 micro-loan. Total invested in stock = FRS1664000: each member holds FRS238000 (US$530) stock on average.

"I thank God for lifting us up out of darkness. WEEP has helped us pay our debts, meet our financial needs, to escape hardship we have suffered for so long in past. We dream of having a Buyam Sellam shop and then a supermarket!"

− Catherine Ndangh

Potato Production Business

Socio-economic transformation is due to WEEP G7 members being knowledgeable about how to grow potatoes. 1 seed potato can yield 10 potatoes, or expressed another way FRS1000 invested in seed potatoes can yield FRS10000 = 1000% return within 3 months before seed, fertiliser and micro-loan costs.

One WEEP G7 member planted 2 buckets of seed potatoes yielding 156 buckets commercial potatoes worth FRS486000 (US$1040). 1 seed potato produces 13 more within 90 days. If other 6 WEEP G7 members plant same number of buckets, get same yield; total income, before costs, would be x 7 = FRS3402000 ($7,280) per WEEP G7.

Chicken Production Business

"WEEP women now have a voice in society. I will buy a plot. I can now send children to school, have a better house, know how to micro-save weekly, to keep records, and know benefit. WEEP Facilitators gave me knowledge, skill for work and teach me how to be economical with money. WEEP teach everything – thank God. WEEP has empowered me."

− Justine Bamendankwe

25 chickens – reared at home from 21 to 42 days – sell for FRS3000 each = FRS75000 per 3 weeks x 52 weeks each year = 17 cycles each year = FRS1275000 (US$2720) before feed, micro-loan costs, stock losses = HUGE potential.

Cluster Approach

WEEP delivers sustainable woman socio-economic self-empowerment WEEP Cluster-by-Cluster. Each Cluster is a building block, a cost effective critical mass of 6 communities with >20 WEEP G7 per community = >120 WEEP G7 x 7 women each WEEP G7 = >840 women + 6 dependents on average per member household = >5040 dependents = >6000 people. Currently each MFI branch covers 1-3 WEEP Clusters.

Financial Controls

WEEP Facilitators follow tight financial controls based on: a) standard content Cluster income and expenditure budgets, receipted monthly actual cash flow in and out; b) immediately taking corrective action on any variances. Cluster operating surplus and deficit figures are consolidated into CCODEP income and expenditure statement and balance sheet. Additional controls include monthly audits, spot checks, debt chasing, and investment cycle financial reports. Operating income to meet WEEP Facilitator stipend and office operating costs, are generated through 0.5% interest income, WEEP G7 registration fees, net income from WEEP Guide Book and T-Shirt sales.

CCODEP WEEP Low Cost Grassroots Community Head Quarter Office; and laptop, memory stick, smart phone and motor cycle needs

Based on 200 per country x 35 Sub Saharan Africa countries, WEEP needs to teach 7000 accredited WEEP Grassroots Community Facilitators; access for free 7000 quality laptops, 7000 quality memory sticks, 7000 smart phones and 7000 Honda motor cycles