Koshi Yomuti – Banking under the tree Micro Partnership forEconomicGrowth(PEG) fi nance ProgrammeinNorthernNamibia economic impactofmicro Client storiesaboutthesocialand Banking underthetree – Yomuti Koshi rural areasofNorthernNamibia fi nance inthe KKoshioshi YomutiYomuti – BBankinganking underunder thethe treetree Client stories about the social and economic impact of microfi nance in the rural areas of Northern Namibia Published by: Partnership for Economic Growth (PEG), Namibia Competence Area 4136, Financial System Development Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH and Financial Systems Development Services AG (FIDES) German Technical Cooperation P.O. Box 8016 Windhoek Namibia T +264 61 222447 F +264 61 222427 E
[email protected] I www.gtz.de Responsible: Christiane Kalle Text: Christine Polzin commissioned by Federal Ministry Printing: for Economic Cooperation John Meinert Printing and Development Windhoek, July 2006 Koshi Yomuti - Banking under the tree Foreword This book presents the stories of 11 micro-entrepreneurs in Northern Namibia, the majority of them being women. Their stories witness the everyday struggle of poor people having an enormous sense of responsibility and courage, coping with a wide range of forms of vulnerability in a not always conducive environment. These examples - ranging from a lady hairdresser working in her village to the initiator of a car-repair shop that started under a tree, but is now a formalized business and rapidly expanding -, clearly break with the common conviction that poor people are passive, waiting for assistance and unable to change their situation. They want to be considered as serious entrepreneurs, understanding market opportunities, combining resources and developing medium-term strategies. Their strategies are at least as sophisticated as those of SMEs in fi rst world countries, even if their economic level is lower and their exposure to risks higher.