Challenge: Togo’s growth needs to include under-served communities.

There is no denying that Togo’s economies are on the rise. However, hundreds of thousands of Togolese are still locked in the cycle of poverty. With almost every circumstance stacked against them and financial services out of reach, subsistence lifestyles are often all even the most determined Togolese can achieve. This is especially true for women and Togo’s ever-growing youth population.

Miade’s Solution: Togo’s growth can be inclusive.

Financial inclusion: Access to financial services, and training on how to effectively use them, can at long last grant underserved Togolese the opportunity to share in their continent’s rise.

Graduated Mentorship: After conducting a market assessment to determine local economic opportunities, Miade hires local trainers to teach co-operative groups the skills they need to capitalize on these market prospects. Miade also facilitates “business literacy.” What does that mean? Running a business is more than having a technical skill! Miade works to transfer knowledge on savings and investment plans, locally appropriate technology, business plan writing, microfinance applications, applying for credit, and more. All of these skills are reinforced in our mentorship model, occurring with peer guidance in step-by-step phases. As co-ops progress through training phases, new co-ops enter the training cycle behind them, and the trained groups become mentors to the new trainees, teaching from their personal experience. This provides project participants with additional local support, and as trainees graduate, the process becomes increasingly sustainable.

Self Selection: Miade knows that not everyone wants to be an entrepreneur, so we work with co-operatives that are already in business. This means that project participants are the community members who have already shown their desire to be involved and benefit from additional training. Targeting self-selected entrepreneurs maximizes Miade’s project impact and further empowers these emerging community leaders.