Seven reporters from Radio Netherlands Worldwide travelled round the globe looking for small-scale businesses who had been offered microcredit. They are to be featured in this dossier on 25 January.
To whet your appetite, here's a sneak preview from Ghana, followed by a short account of how it came about from its maker, Eric Beauchemin.
My editors had issued me clear instructions: we want a portrait of an African woman between 20 and 40 whose life had been changed for the better because of microcredit and who was also employing other women. There are undoubtedly thousands of women in the continent who fit that bill, but finding one took months.
My colleagues helped me identify a few prospective microfinance institutions in three different countries. After weeks of e-mails and phone calls, I finally found “my woman”. Comfort, a woman in her late 30s, had a flourishing tie and dye business in a shed. It was growing thanks to microcredit, the institution assured me, and she had several female employees.
But when I asked to speak to her personally, the institution refused to give me her number, citing privacy reasons. I insisted, but they continued to refuse. My editors started to panic and even considered dropping Comfort and the institution altogether. Finally, when I made that clear to them, they relented and I was able to speak to Comfort for a few minutes on the phone, but her English was quite poor, so I wasn’t much the wiser.
Taken aback
When the cameraman and I arrive in Kumasi, Ghana’s second largest city, we immediately go to the microfinance institution, the Sinapi Aba Trust. We are taken aback by the fleet of expensive vehicles in front of the building. The 4-wheel drive cars are understandable, but the Mercedes Benz sport coupes and other high-priced cars don’t seem to make much sense in a country with poorly paved roads.
We are welcomed and taken to the luxurious boardroom where we have to cool our heels for nearly two hours. Why is unclear because they knew we were arriving. As the time passes, both the cameraman and I become increasingly irritated. Finally the person we need to speak to comes in. We discuss the video and then, finally, we go off to see Comfort.
The cameraman, Roland, is even more flabbergasted than I: Comfort’s flourishing business consists of a few basins in the mud on the side of a busy road. He scratches his head and asks me what he’s supposed to shoot, while I wonder what a non-flourishing business looks like. In the end, Roland gets on with it.
Suspicious
It’s the first time I've worked with a professional cameraman, so he has to keep shooing me behind walls so that I don’t appear in the film. Towards the end of the day, we do the interview with Comfort. She speaks in Twi, the local language, while someone from the Sinapi Aba Trust interprets for me. I quickly become suspicious of the interpreter because each time I mention microcredit, she simply uses the word “Sinapi” as if the two were synonymous.
Comfort has received six microloans from Sinapi, and when I ask her repeatedly why she doesn’t go to a bank or another microcredit institution for a bigger loan, she finally says because she’s “given her heart to Sinapi”. The interview becomes increasingly bizarre and after half an hour, I give up.
Stunned
As soon as the interview is over, the interpreter disappears and Comfort asks me for money to expand her business. It turns out that she thought we were shooting a promotional video for Sinapi. I’m stunned. I call my editors in the Netherlands: the radio station has already spent a lot of money and we can’t simply dump the material. We decided that I would go back to Sinapi the following day to get an explanation as well as do another interview with Comfort, this time in English.
The director of Sinapi gives a plausible explanation for extending such small microloans – people who go to banks often become over indebted – for years and years. But it sounds more as if they want to keep increasing their client base. As for the expensive vehicles in the parking lot, “if we don’t pay our employees well, they’ll go work for private banks”.
The video does turn out to be a positive story about microcredit: Comfort’s life has improved and she can now meet her social obligations. But I’m left wondering if she wouldn’t be much further along if she had received bigger loans and some sound business advice.
Click to watch the video: Microcredit for an ex-convict
Camera: Roland Kremer
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This is surely a breach of trust. How can you publish such things about a company that was kind enough to give you access to its operations and client? I wonder whether a Ghanaian media house could have the same access to a financial institution in the Netherlands or UK or Germany.
Please, it is high time the West stop telling us how to live our lifes and run our businesses. This neo-colonialists, imperialist intrusion must stop now. Africa has come of age.
By the way if Europe and America were better at financial management how come they led the rest of the world into the recent global financial meltdown? And how come the Greek economy run into debt? Don't also forget that the American government is now in danger of being partially shut down because of heavy indebtedness.
I think Sinapi Aba deserves an immediate appology from Mr Beauchemin and Radio Netherlands for this 'wicked' publication.
This is a very surprising article to me especially given our very recent experience working with Sinapi Aba Trust around education. We are currently partnering with SAT to pilot the provision of health insurance education designed to help more of their clients access health insurance. Although we have not worked closely during recent years with SAT, it is important to note that this organization intentionally and successfully reaches the very poor and that they are deeply committed to a microfinance plus approach that adds education on health, financial literacy, and livelihood development, and more. In addition during a recent field test of the education that required us to work for a full week with staff, clients, and management, the entire organization was extremely helpful, professional, and very very hospitable to our needs to conduct a rigorous test of the education and how it would work in a field setting. SAT is committed to education and to rigorous evaluation of what they are doing and its impact. We work with many MFIs around the world and we could not be more pleased with the opportunity to work with SAT as an MFI that is demonstrating a deep commitment to improving the lives of the poor clients they work to reach.
Highly disappointed in this report. I dont in any way believe that, an organization with its mission - to serve as a mustard seed through which opportunities for enterprise development and income generation - are given to the economically disadvantaged in its society, will turn out to exploit those it intend to serve. Besides, i wonder whether the authorities of Sinapi Aba Trust gave Radio Netherlands the carry forward to publish this frivolous and inconsequential article. Whatever, the extent and magnitude of the words used in the article depicts that Radio Netherlands didn't exhibit professional qualities in its report. On the part of the interpretation, words are expressed the way they would be understood better. What makes Sinapi – a microfinance institution different from Microcredit? If Radio Netherlands assumes the two words are not synonymous, then at best, one defines the other and thus can be used interchangeably. With the argument of what the station termed the use of "sport coupés and other high-priced cars" at best an initial investigation could have been made on how the officers and employees of the organization were able to acquire those vehicles. It might be to their high thriftiness level. Besides, most officers and employees do qualify to work in institutions such as the World Bank, IMF and other high-ranked institutions because of their qualifications and experiences, hence deserve the privilege and even more for such a sacrificial work they are rendering. There is a Ghanaian proverb which says "the best way to help the blind is not to be one of them - literally, serving the poor does not in any sense mean the officers and employees of the Trust should be poor. Moreover, articles for public consumption should be examined in terms of its content and context. grammatically, this article deserves no score – dumb sentences indeed. From the last paragraph – “Comfort’s life has improved and she can now meet her social obligations”. Thanks to Radio Netherlands for noting the better life Comfort is enjoying in her life – the real mission of Sinapi is fulfilled. Radio Netherlands should retort this article because it is a deliberate effort to tarnish the image of our beloved country – Ghana - and such a highly reputable institution, Sinapi Aba Trust.
As an average Ghanaian, am appalled by your description of our roads and the type of cars you 'recommend' us to use. I believe your type of job allow you to move from country to country so you must take advantage of the opportunity and learn about how 3rd world countries are developing. I can't imagine what the sinapi institution will feel when they read your article after giving you access to their office, staff and their client!
This is most appalling report I have ever read. This is stemming from an imperialist and colonialist who thinks that Africans should not have anything good. You are assigned to cover a story about a client of a microfinance institution and you ended up insulting your host who have given u access to their valued client without and charges. Is that their prize of their generousity and open door policy?.
If the client's english was poor as you claimed then I must tell you your tenses are not better than average. Next time stick to you mandate in order to help your audience.
I am very surprise about this writer! What were you there to do... to visit a client and her business, the Institution or see fleet of cars and did you also ask of the owners of the cars? What knowledge to you have about mircocredit and the word 'sinapi'? Did you ask the interpreter the meaning of sinapi and were you able to translate micro credit into Twi language to the woman, Comfort to understand you clearly? Do you know about Clients' Protection Principle in Micro Finance? These are questions I want you to find answers before you write and publish articles to your loyal readers. I find your article to lack any credible information that some of us can learn from. Next time try to be professional in your writing and focus on your main subject or agenda to produce quality work for your loyal readers. I hope you take this in good faith and learn to enhance your field work.
This article, as well as the others that have been published so far, were about how the video came about. More detailed articles and the full video reports will be published, starting January 25.
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