The purpose of Doses of Hope’s microfinance programme is to strengthen the economic base of the low-income self-employed through increasing their access to loans and savings services, in both the rural and urban areas. The programme offers different kinds of help; it combines cost-efficient methodologies with a very high level of customer service.
The first microfinance project (150 direct beneficiaries and 900 secondary beneficiaries) was funded by the Rabobank Foundation in 1999. By 2007, the microfinance programme had reached a total of 5,500 direct clients, with a further positive socio-economic effect for more than 41,300 indirect beneficiaries – 80% of which are low-income women. The project requires a group approach to borrowing which has increased social cohesion; clients elect their group officials through a transparent and democratic system. Clients also report a growth in self-esteem and dignity.
In partnership with Novib, Doses of Hope has in 2008 initiated broad strategies in lending, encouraging savings and intensifying outreach and promotion to ensure an increased number of clients. Eventually we plan to offer full financial services. This strategy will entail spinning off the microfinance unit to an independent microfinance institution (MFI) with its own board and management structures.
This new MFI, though governed fully by Doses of Hope Foundation, will be better placed to take advantage of the potentials and opportunity in the financial market now evolving in Somaliland: to provide a wider range of financial services, mobilize savings from its clients and create a culture of saving. This will be achieved through the introduction of a voluntary savings facility in addition to the existing compulsory savings product. This relatively stable resource is expected to allow the MFI to expand its outreach, improve governance and support the growth of the institution – eventually leading to a self-sustainable and profitable regulated financial institution.
For more information, contact Doses of Hope.
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 The story of one Beneficiary
Amina Saleh is a woman living in Hargeisha, the capital. In 2000 she approached DoH as an individual. She was asked to form a group and she found five other would-be borrowers. Her idea was to start baking bread in a pit oven. She worked out a business plan and received $200 minus $20 for administrative costs. She used the money for ingredients, tools and also for the renting of space in a neighbour’s lock-up where she could store things. She baked bread each morning before it was light and then took it to the market to sell. Her profits have allowed her to repay the loan, build a proper oven, and provide work for her husband and two paid employees. She has built two more rooms on to her one-room hut. They were needed; she has five children. And now the children can go to school.
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