During the past two decades, Veronica Jose has transformed the lives of thousands of Angolans through micro financing projects in some of the poorest and most remote parts of the nation. Already some 20,000 people, mostly women, have benefited.
Back in 1991, when she was just 19 years old and armed with only a degree in accounting and auditing, José ventured into the depths of Angola’s civil war zone. At the time, she was working for the non-governmental organisation Development Workshop (DW), and her mission was to provide microcredit loans to the communities left behind. The idea was to give women tools to help them turn their informal activities into businesses in order to help them put food on the table.
In 1995, DW conducted an informal survey that resulted in a programme to help women launch commercial ventures; this first microcredit programme was sponsored by the French Embassy. Initially people were sceptical about the women repaying the money, however, the group has grown from 15 to 60 women. Thanks to these positive outcomes, DW was able to obtain more funding, this time from the British government. This led to the formation of the Sustainable Subsistence Programme (SSP), which was supported by three NGOs: DW, Care International and Save the Children.
At the end of 2000, the Sustainable Subsistence Programme arrived in Huambo, which is located about 600 km southeast of Luanda – a war zone. “I knew that it would be a challenging situation, especially because I’m a woman,” she said. But she also knew that people in Huambo needed the help of Kixi Crédito, and so she set off to do her job.
Kixi Crédito is an institution that grants microcredit—a maximum of one million kwanzas, the equivalent of 3.9 EUR—to people who want to start or develop a business, even an informal business. Funds are distributed and repayment periods are defined according to the client’s capacity to manage their business.
After three years in Huambo, José returned to Luanda with a portfolio of more than 15,000 clients. She was then promoted to credit operations assistant, and 10 years ago, she became manager of human resources. Despite her important job in administration, she misses direct contact with clients and the challenges of those early days.
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Source: Egypt Independent, 8 March 2018