Chapter 58 Trust, Accra, Ghana, West Africa

Our approach and activities are based on the Microfinance Plus model, which focuses on providing solutions to key problems that the poor face which prevent them from saving and growing their businesses. Chapter 58 strongly believes that access to credit and saving services is only a small part of raising the economically active poor out of poverty and that the most effective, long-term solution is permanent access to credit within the framework of comprehensive, continuing support services. Much more importantly, we believe that focused education and innovative business strategies based on the needs of the economically active poor are critical to improving our clients' standards of living.

To this end, the five Community Based Credit Associations we operate in Accra, Somanya, and Kpong provide 160 small scale urban and rural entrepreneurs with access to commercial savings services, affordable credit, practical and life skills training as well as health screening services all aimed at increasing the productivity and efficiency of their micro enterprises.

In the Upper West Region of Ghana we assist 12 additional rural Community Based Women's Organizations, including more than 420 women, through the provision of appropriate linkages to training programs and technical advice to develop their capacities to produce, market, and export shea products.

The weekly meetings of our Credit Associations provide valuable business training and education, as well as a useful forum for clients to network, exchange ideas, and learn from their fellow micro entrepreneurs. In addition to credit and savings services, we at Chapter 58 strive to provide comprehensive micro enterprise education and services.

We educate our clients about appropriate and affordable technologies and business practices that can improve micro business efficiency and earn higher returns on investments for our clients.

The average client of our microfinance program is able to benefit from a loan as small as 50GH¢ (50US$). At Chapter 58 we encourage our clients to use loans to build their businesses' asset bases, increasing their ability to weather future hardships and increasing the value of their businesses.