SMARTPHONES USED IN COACHING

Kigamboni, Dar es Salaam, 2022-08-31. farip has received a dozen Samsung Galaxy 8 smartphones from the donor community, which are now being used by Elibariki in coaching and for communication with farip-supported ventures. Fatuma Sadiki, who previously had to borrow a mobile phone from friends, immediately demonstrates independence. She can now easily pass on information: “The smartphone helps me communicate with clients, I can also share information about my cookshop on social media and research new cooking techniques.”

Fatuma has been running her cookshop in Kigamboni, the port district of Dar es Salaam, for almost a year now. In a difficult environment, she managed initial repayments on the farip loan – despite the sales drop during the Corona pandemic and the current price increases for cereals!

A next development step for Fatuma could be to operate a BOP (“bottom of the pyramid, i.e. for very low-income clients) sales point in Kigamboni together with TBM, for deliveries of agricultural products from remote rural parts of Tanzania.

RISE IN WHEAT PRICES

Dar es Salaam, 2022-05-31. The massive rise in wheat prices is also causing problems for Fatuma’s restaurant, which is supported by farip. The Ukraine war is hitting Tanzania hard! Wheat cultivation areas in East Africa have been systematically neglected due to cheaper wheat imports from Russia and Ukraine. That now takes its toll. Nevertheless: «TBM» now wants to organise direct deliveries of traditional wheat from Tanzania’s southwest for Fatuma’s restaurant.

HISTORY OF THE VENTURE

The small trader Fatuma Sadiki received a loan from farip for a little street restaurant in Kigamboni, the port district of Dar es Salaam. The loan is to be repaid within three years. farip provides free business coaching during the loan period to ensure the commercial success of the start-up.

Fatuma now earns a regular income from the cookshop, opened in January 2021.

She also networked with other farip ventures: from the inland area 650 km away, she is supplied with beans from Makambako, maize flour from Msowero and pulverised char briquettes – an innovative fuel – from Magunguli thanks to the regular truck transport “Scheduled Cargo Service“.

The cookshop is also used as a sales point for the products which Fatuma uses for cooking.

Beans that have been cleaned and packed into small portions sell well. The beans come from Lucy Kyando in Makambako, who is also supported by farip.  Good quality, affordable products find a market among many low-income earners in the cities.