Mabogo Dinku Makes Positive Strides
Pauline Dikuelo | Monday March 2, 2020 15:25
Introduced three years ago, Mabogo Dinku is a loan product with a ceiling of P20 million intended for micro-businesses that are not able to access the main CEDA development fund.
The product allows micro-entrepreneurs to apply for loans of up to P150,000 payable in three to 12 months to fund working capital and asset purchases.
A minimum of five people and maximum of 15 people per business are allowed under the terms of the product. Formally employed people also qualify provided they earn less than P3,000 per month.
CEDA Business Development manager, Andrew Madeswi said since the programme’s inception in 2016, they have empowered many small businesses as they have received about 2,832 applications with only 768 groups making it through.
“We established that not all SMMEs fit the threshold set by CEDA, we then decided to have the programme suitable for businesses that are below the set standards with the aim of empowering them,” he said.
According to Madeswi, the response has been overwhelming, as Batswana have shown interest in the product, especially women who constitute about 80% of the submissions and youth that occupy only 35%.
Further, he said Mabogo Dinku promotes and encourages a savings culture, including providing or facilitating savings avenues for the micro-entrepreneurs as a basic of enterprise support and sustainable growth.
He said members contribute savings towards a group savings account, which is at least 10% of the total loan amount at any point in time. CEDA and the group agreed upon which bank will be the fund custodian.