Retail expansion with fonkoze zafen

by Greg Levin

In June, we partnered with Haiti’s leading Microfinance Institution, Fonkoze, on a pilot project to channel diaspora remittances directly into small business creation. Fonkoze branches began hosting information sessions and business trainings for remittance receiving potential entrepreneurs. The goal was to educate and excite individuals by demonstrating a way to take remittance funds they’d been receiving from their friends and families abroad and use them to create a sustainable livelihood.

One of the four options on offer was Eneji Pwop’s ‘Business in a Bag’, our entry level small business kit. With the wholesale purchase of a small quantity of products, an entrepreneur is provided with sales and marketing materials at no additional cost. Our entry level offers have been the program’s most popular - beating out alternatives like Digicel cell phone credit and Rebo coffee cart business kits.

To date, over 25 participants have become Eneji Pwop retailers, a number that we hope is just the beginning of a scaling up of this partnership. Fonkoze’s national reach and reputation make them a perfect partner in our fight to eradicate energy poverty in Haiti. We’re very excited to be working with such a great partner!