helping senders & receivers use their money to create the jobs Africa needs… Supporting Africa’s entrepreneurs to create the jobs Africa needs, one dollar at a time…
What is Remittances Plus™?
Remittances Plus™ is a business development support service provided by AFFORD that recipients of remittances sent for investment in a business venture from anywhere in the world to Sierra Leone via our online money transfer service to help them make productive use of the money & put
it to good use in growing their business.AFFORD runs business development support centres with a network of business support coaches & partners in locations across Sierra Leone.
AFFORD runs business development support centres with a network of business support coaches & partners in
locations across Sierra Leone.
Why the need for Remittances Plus™?
According to the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Sub-Saharan Africa received $21,766 billion in remittances in 2006. Although this is a significant sum of money (representing, on average on a country-by-country basis 4% of GDP & 4% of exports), conditions in Africa limit its effectiveness.
In West Africa, for instance, 70% of payments are handled by one money transfer operator. In many countries, regulations bar non-banking financial institutions from engaging in transfers & banks tend to dominate in paying
out remittances. At the same time, banks have traditionally not served low-income individuals.
In Sierra Leone, for instance, barely 1% of the population has access to a bank account. Thus the structure of the
remittances market tends to reinforce financial exclusion. Lower income remittances recipients are therefore unlikely
to be bank clients & thus have no access to the range of services that would enable them to make more productive uses
of their money. Evidence from Latin America suggests that remittances recipients with access to bank accounts tend to
save more & invest more.
Through its Supporting Entrepreneurs & Enterprise Development in Africa (SEEDA) program, AFFORD already
provides business development support services to small-scale enterprises with potential to grow. In extending
financial access for the unbanked, AFFORD has worked closely with Sierra Leonean banks such as Rokel Commercial
Bank to extend banking services.
Estimates suggest that between 5% & 10% of remittances are intended for investment in enterprise or productive
asset, such as building a home. However, anecdotal reports point to considerable dissatisfaction on the part of
senders at least, as only rarely do these investment efforts meet expectations or succeed at all.
Recipients may lack the skills to run a business successfully & they may not have access to any of the support they need.
What are the benefits offered by Remittances Plus™?
Senders
• By using our online money transfer service & opting for the Remittances Plus™ service, senders shall qualify
for full refund of the money transfer fee once AFFORD’s offices in Freetown confirm that the recipient has made full
use of the Remittances Plus™ service.
• Senders gain more peace of mind from knowing that their investment has a greater chance of paying dividends further down
the line ultimately in reducing dependency of relatives & others upon their money (although neither AFFORD nor Fadugu can
of course offer any guarantees as to the success of any ventures).
Recipients
• Recipients have access to AFFORD’s five-point business development support service:
1. Information provision
• Bank regulations, legal information, Human Resource policies, marketing
2. Capacity building and training
• Book keeping and finance management, business planning, business management, Human Resource management sills, approaching banks
• Literacy and numeracy training
3. Access to finance
• Linking with microfinance and banking institutions
• Mobilizing local and international resources
4. Networking and linkages
• References, linking with other entrepreneurs doing similar business
• Linking with business membership organizations
5. Advocacy support
• Support with tabling policy-related issues faced by entrepreneurs in forums such as the Sierra Leone Business Forum.
• AFFORD’s business coaches typically deliver these services via one-to-one consulting and advice sessions; through
workshops; and through training sessions. Business coaches are experienced business people familiar with the challenges
of running a small business in Sierra Leone. They are also trained by the prestigious Institute for Public Administration
& Management (IPAM) in a pioneering Business Coaching/Counselling course developed specially for this program.
• Through its SEEDA program, AFFORD has developed a network of over 100 highly skilled & experienced African diaspora Resource
Persons many whom have had recent direct experience of providing business development support to clients in Sierra Leone & Ghana.
Through its online, virtual mentoring platform, these Resource Persons can also provide a backup service to business coaches
operating on the ground in Sierra Leone.
How much does the service cost?
As a special offer, for an initial period, we will refund the cost of the money transfer service for Remittances Plus™
senders once recipients take up the service in Sierra Leone.
As an introductory offer, AFFORD shall offer full, intensive business support to the recipient for up to three months for
a fee amounting to 5% of the amount transferred. After this initial period, we shall introduce service fees on a sliding
scale basis. However, even though this is an expensive service to deliver, because the underlying aim of AFFORD’s business
development support service – including Remittances Plus™ – is to provide high quality, affordable business development
support services to clients otherwise unable to pay, we shall always aim to charge affordable, taking into account our
clients’ ability to pay. Senders and recipients using other transfer methods can still use Remittances Plus™.
Fadugu offers a refund of transfer fees for Remittances Plus™ service users at its discretion & reserves the right to review
terms & conditions from time to time.
Furthermore, for each online money transfer transaction to Sierra Leone that senders complete (whether for Remittances Plus
or other purposes), Fadugu will donate a dollar into a trust fund, called the Fadugu Fund, for future investment in small
enterprises that help to create jobs in impoverished, post-war Sierra Leone.
How do you access the Remittances Plus™ service?
1. To take advantage of the Fadugu special offer on money transfers for investment purposes, the sender visits Fadugu to
transact the money transfer operation, remembering to tick the Remittances Plus™ box.
2. Sender notifies recipient of transfer, passes on unique access code, & directs recipient to AFFORD’s Freetown representative,
Mrs Marie Bob Kandeh on +232 76 80 33 92 (AFFORD is located within the Institute for Public Administration & Management or
IPAM, George Street Campus Building in downtown Freetown).
3. AFFORD shall allocate a trained business coach to support the recipient as they develop & grow their business.
4. Recipients who receive funds via other means can still access the Remittances Plus™ for a fee of 10% of the sum invested.
Please complete our online survey!
Please help us to improve the service we offer by completing the online survey:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=tuYNxsBAoB2O1RB2gIjtww_3d_3d
|
