Abdou    Aug 10, 2012

I prefer to change repayments to 12000 because the situation is hard here in Senegal. Now if the situation does change, there will be no problem, but actually the buisness is not working. It's hard. I work to fulfil the contract. But the situation makes it really difficult to repay 17000 CFA. But I do my most to try and make 12000. I have a serious personal problem, which is not easy to explain. But if God wills, I think it will resolve.

Dictated by Abdou, written by volunteer Marc Figueras.

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Je pefere changer les versements a 12000 parce que la situation est plus que dure ici au Senegal. Maintenant si la situation change il y a pas de probleme on va augmenter mais actuellement le commerce ne marche pas. c est dure. c est pas moi je travaille pour essayer de rempir mon contrat. mais c est la situation qui est vraiment difficile pour verser 17000 CFA. mais on fait le maximum pour essayer de remplir les 12000. moi jai un probleme personnel serieux pour expliquer ca c est pas facile. mais inchallah je pense que ca ira. avec le cas de la mauritanie a cause de touts mes problemes la bas ca m a vraiment gene.

commentaire dicte par abdou; transcrit par stagiaire Marc Figueras.

SEGant    Jun 1, 2012

Dear Lenders,

My name is Sam Gant and I'm currently one of two Client Relationship Managers in Dakar. On May 30th I met with Abdou to discuss his most recent repayment date and to determine how his financial circumstances had changed. He explained that after the hectic and difficult financial situation that surrounded the recent election had passed he had hoped that business would improve, but in fact to this day commerce is slow. He works from 8 AM to 10 PM everyday day but still barely manages to clear 15,00 CFA ($30) every week. His rent and storage fees remain high, and due to his thin margins he was unable to make his most recent payment.

I plan to follow up with him, but probably the best way for him to remain on track for repayment would be to reduce the amount due each month and extend his repayment schedule. He remains dedicated to repaying his loan, and expressed a great deal of gratitude to lenders for helping him to improve his business. Although the internet in the cyber cafe where we were working cut out and he was not able to upload his own post, Abdou painstakingly took the time to type out the following message to lenders "je rembourserai quand j'ai vendu 2 ou 3 portables. je vais verser petit a petit" (I will repay my loan when I have sold 2 or 3 cell phones. I will repay little by little.)

madelinegbaker    Mar 18, 2012

An Update:

Hello all, Abby and I visited Abdou Diouf last Thursday to check up on his progress. In addition to the situation below that Stephen outlined, widespread political protests in Dakar have slowed Abdou's sales almost to a halt these past months. The general Senegalese public do not want President Wade to run for an additional third term and there have been weekly and sometimes daily protests (peaceful and violent) all over the city leading up to the February election.

Where Abdou has his business is a target area of protesters. He has not been able to come to work let alone sell his products during this time. The second round of elections will be a run-off between the current president Wade and Macky Sall, his former prime minister. Abdou hopes that after the final election things will settle down and he will be able to continue consistently working.

On another note, he has now added headphones to his inventory which he says sell consistently well.

I will be sure to update everyone post elections.

Neequayes    Jan 30, 2012

Update- Business

Hello, this is Stephen again. I have just met with Abdou Diouf and unfortunately he continues to struggle with difficulty. He has been looking for a new job to repay the loan he was presented with through Zidisha. When he eventually made it to Mauritania his unfamiliarity with the current situation resulted in him encountering a problem with the police. He was told that it was necessary that he change his money before entering the country because Senegalese money is not allowed. When confronted with the reality of possibly going to jail, he ended up paying 150,000 cfas to avoid this. Ever since this happened, he has been trying to recover these funds. He plans on starting repayments by the end of May.

Financial Situation

Currently he works to sell cell phone accessories which generate about 40,000 cfas a month. He pays 30,000 cfas a month to rent a room and pays 7,000 cfas to store his things at the end of the day. He lives with 7 other people with whom he splits the bills. Abdou also has a child who lives with relatives due to his inability to support a family at this time.

Stephen
Client Relationship Manager

Abdou    Jan 26, 2012

I am Abdou Diouf, and I would like to apologize for the delay in repaying. [When I received my loan] I traveled to Mauritania [to purchase an inventory of mobile phones] and got into trouble with the police. The police told me that I would not be allowed to cross the border back into Senegal with Senegalese currency. I was forced to exchange the funds in order to return home, and had to pay CFA 150,000 (USD 330) to the police. Taking Senegalese currency across the border is not even illegal, but the police at the border are doing this because of corruption.

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je me apelle Abdou Diouf et je suis desolee parce que jai retard du payment. Je suis pari en Mauritanie et jai eu probleme avec le policie. Le policie dit que ne rentre pas avec l'argent Senegalaise. Il faut que changer avant d'avenir . Jai paye 150,000 cfas pour le policie. c'est ne pas interdit mais c'est la policie quil sont en trein de fair ca a cause de corruption.

Abdou    Sep 27, 2011

As I had explained previously, it would have been an enormous risk to go to purchase [a bulk inventory of phone handsets] without sufficient local currency. I would like to ask whether it would be possible to extend the repayment schedule by nine months. That would be very helpful. Thank you for your understanding. I am doing my best to make my business a success.

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comme je te explique c t un rique d alle acheter san argent de peur qu on te retien je demende si on pouve pousse la date de 9 mois sa serai bon vraiment merci de votre comprehension on veut q travaille

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Admin    Sep 21, 2011

Dear lenders,

I spoke today with Mr. Diouf. He just returned from a trip to Mauritania, where he intended to purchase a large inventory of mobile phones to retail in Senegal. He reports experiencing difficulty in obtaining a sufficient quantity of Mauritanian currency at decent exchange rates, such that he was only able to purchase nine telephone handsets. He is now researching possibilities for buying a larger inventory of handsets in Senegal.

Best,

Julia Kurnia
Director, Zidisha Inc.

Allen    Jun 14, 2011

On behalf of Abdou-

I am truly happy for the loan. Now I will be able to buy more stock and increase my production. I am working with you and every day. I hope our partnership will work, because I am a business man. I wish you a good future.