Goodwille X MicroLoan

As a company firmly grounded in values of community and progressiveness, our commitment to sharing our success through support for meaningful causes and initiatives is unwavering.

For a span of more than 15 years, Goodwille has remained dedicated to championing the cause of the MicroLoan Foundation, a charitable organisation. This endeavor was particularly cherished by the late Founder of Goodwille, Annika Goodwille, and in her legacy, we have sustained our dedication.

The noble mission of the MicroLoan Foundation resonates deeply with us. This organisation extends a helping hand to women across Africa, empowering them to establish their own businesses. Through the provision of modest business loans and continuous training, these women are equipped to chart their path towards financial sustainability. By doing so, they can navigate their way out of poverty, achieving newfound independence and prosperity.

The MicroLoan Foundation is a UK-based microfinance charity that provides small loans, business training and ongoing guidance to groups of women in sub-Saharan Africa. In doing so, it helps these women to build businesses capable of sustained success, allowing them to work their way out of poverty and providing much needed food and education for their families.

Their group of 16 women – the Tapiwa (meaning ‘we have been given’ in Ngoni) – supports a total of 96 children by selling maize and conducting various other trading enterprises, all funded by their loans.

MicroLoan gives hopes, not handouts and provides the poorest women in sub-Saharan Africa with the tools and skills needed to work their way out of poverty, and support to become self-sufficient. We think this is a great cause and are proud to support MicroLoan Foundation in their work with helping women create better lives for themselves and their community. To read more about the MicroLoan Foundation, please visit: www.microloanfoundation.org.uk.

Mrs Alifosina Mkonde is the proud mother of eight children, and lives in the outskirts of Lilongwe, Malawi. 11 years ago, she set up a small grocery stall selling rice, groundnuts and maize to support her family. She dreamed that her children would get the education she never had. In reality, the family lived in extreme poverty and often went for weeks without food. Imagine the heartache of putting your children to bed hungry.

Determined to make a change, Mrs Mkonde joined a MicroLoan group in 2012, receiving extensive business training and a loan of just £22.

Mrs Mkonde had a vision, and MicroLoan was there to help. Over time, her loans grew and she used her entrepreneurial training, coaching and mentoring to turn her stall into a shop, and later built a mill at the heart of the village.

Now on her 12^th loan cycle, has a team of paid employees and her mill serves local farmers, local businesses and has created many jobs in her community.

Mrs Mkonde, mother, super-entrepreneur and owner of an entire business empire.

Her family, and other families in the community, no longer face hunger, and her eldest three children are at college studying nursing, IT and insurance. And it all began with a £22 loan and training from MicroLoan.