Jennet

Location: Uganda

This is Jennet from Nwoya, Uganda. Last year, she and two other business partners grew and sold beans. The venture was financed with some of their own savings and a start-up capital grant from WPF partner Village Enterprise. Before then, Jennet had never run a business. She reinvested her share of the profits into another venture, selling cooking oil.

Jennet’s husband is a builder. As part of their community engagement, Village Enterprise reaches out to the spouses and family members of their participants and encourages them to be supportive of participants’ businesses. Jennet’s husband took this message to heart. Jennet said that’s why he offered to help build her shop, free of charge. She paid for some materials, like iron sheet for roofing and some timber for the frame. Her husband did the rest. The shop was built in March 2019. Jennet hopes to grow beyond retail and become a wholesale distributor in her community.


Microfinance Partner: Village Enterprise

Working in rural African villages, Village Enterprise’s mission is to end extreme poverty in rural Africa through entrepreneurship and innovation. Our model is simple and cost-effective.

The Village Enterprise one-year Graduation program provides groups of three entrepreneurs with seed capital, training and on-going mentoring by a local business mentor. We organize the business groups into Business Savings Groups (BSGs) of 30 entrepreneurs (10 business groups) to allow access to growth capital, provide a safe place for savings and build social capital. Integrated conservation training ensures that new business activities promote environmental best practices. Examples of businesses include livestock, farming, small retail stores and restaurants, tailoring, and beekeeping.

Learn more about Village Enterprise