By Betsy Ramser Jaime
Millicent Adukwe was born in a village called Yawsaekrom in the Brong Ahafo Region of Ghana. As a child, she grew up in a farming family and her parents were able to use their funds to sponsor both her education and that of her 4 siblings. Sadly, her father passed away when she was only five years old, and this made it difficult for her mother to support all 5 children on her own. Millicent humbly shares, ‘Things became difficult for my mum so my other four siblings dropped out from school. After my national service, I secured a job at Capital Rural Bank Ltd. in the year 2006. I then got married to Mr. Kwadwo Appiah who is a barber and a petty trader. God has blessed us with three children.’
Since January 2015, Millicent has been making an income selling soft drinks. She is able to sell a wide variety and sells anywhere from ten to twelve crates per day. Since starting her business, Millicent has successfully raised 4 Zidisha funded loans and through these loans, she can continued to expand her business.
As Millicent began her partnership with Zidisha, she raised an initial loan of $381 in November 2016, allowing her to increase her inventory of crates of bottles. Millicent has always had big dreams and goals for herself and her family. As she requested this first loan, she also shared with her lenders that, ‘I want to see my children in the best Universities in the years ahead.’
The following year, in 2017, she raised 2 Zidisha funded loans, one for $574 in April, and the second for $931 in October. With the April loan she shared, ‘I have decided to purchase eight crates of soft drinks and ten packs of biscuits, five packs of bottled water, and twenty packs of sachet water. Candies will be added into it to increase sales and income. I expect that my income will increase by 45 percent by the next three months. This will help me pay my ward’s school fee and also buy some of her textbooks. In fact, this will be very helpful to me.’
Sure enough, a few months following this loan, Millicent updated lenders by sharing that, ‘Thanks to Zidisha, my shop is fully stocked and I promise to make 100% repayment, sales are also good. I will never disappoint you.’
Most recently, in March 2019, Millicent was once again ready to grow and expand. With a loan of $910 from Zidisha lenders, she was able to buy 50 crates of minerals, milo sachets, and bottled water. In her words, ‘This will help me stock up my store well and get good sales.’
Millicent shares that since working with Zidisha her sales have increased and she has even been able to pay for her nieces registration and school fees in order to complete senior high school. She says, ‘This has been easy due to Zidisha loan funding me. I thank all my lenders for the wonderful support.’
Would you like to help an entrepreneur like Millicent grow and expand her business? Make sure to head on over to the Browse Projects Page to read about our other inspiring business owners all over the world!
