Kisyombe Victoria
Organization: Sero Lease and Finance (Selfina)
Year Founded: 2002
Country: Tanzania
Website: www.serolease.com
In Tanzania, where few women have access to collateral or formal financing, Victoria Kisyombe is pioneering micro-leasing. SEFLINA leases productive assets such as small tractors, water pumps, irrigation equipment and sewing machines to thousands of women entrepreneurs. Focus: Micro-leasing, Entrepreneurship, HIV/AIDS Geographic Area of Impact: Tanzania Model: Social Business Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 16,890 (2009) Annual Budget: USD 1 million (2009) Percentage Earned Revenue: 100% Recognition: Regional Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Africa, 2010 Background While Tanzania’s legal environment provides equal rights to women, local customs and traditions normally make it difficult for women to own land and assets. Many women are therefore considered not creditworthy by financial institutions in the country because they lack tangible collateral assets. This leads to poor financial support and poor access to basic goods and services for women with low incomes. The problem is even more acute for widows who must single-handedly take care of their families, and are marginalized in decision-making at the family and community level. Innovation and Activities SELFINA has addressed this challenge by pioneering micro-leasing as an effective and practical way to provide credit exclusively to women entrepreneurs in Tanzania, thereby facilitating the growth of their businesses and bringing social change to their communities. This creation of wealth-producing economic activity among poor, rural populations is especially important in a country where 75% of the population is rural and over 60% earns less than $1 per day. Cumulatively, SELFINA has issued credit worth US$ 20 million to women. It has trained more than 30,000 women in business management skills, HIV/AIDS awareness and legal rights. Its activities have helped over 200,000 Tanzanians out of poverty. SELFINA is expected to impact the lives of 440,000 additional individuals by 2014. Leasing has proved to be an important development tool for Tanzania where lease of fixed assts lead to greater wealth-creation. The lessee does not have to use scarce working capital to buy equipment upfront. Furthermore, women become owners of leased equipment and can use them as collateral for further borrowing, freeing themselves from the poverty trap. Today SELFINA leases equipment like small tractors, water pumps, irrigation equipment, sewing machines, milling machines, oil extraction machines, bicycles, motor cycles, computers, photocopiers, livestock – dairy cows, dairy goats and poultry. The Entrepreneur Dr Kisyombe excelled in the sciences and pursued a Masters Degree in Veterinary Medicine. She worked as a veterinarian in the Mbeya region bordering Zambia and Malawi. Her life changed drastically in 1991 when she tragically lost her husband and, under customary law, his family reclaimed all their marital possessions except one – a cow named Sero. Victoria relied on the cow to support her young family and subsidize her salary. This period of her life opened her eyes to the plight of many women struggling to provide for their families. She realized that just as the cow helped her generate income, it could be possible for other women to earn money if they could acquire productive assets. In 1992 she started the Sero Women’s Business Association with five other widows. The organization grew to serve thousands of clients and was formally registered as SELFINA ten years later.
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