Seydou's story

Mr. Seydou is 36, married and the father of four children. He lives with his wife and children in Bougouni. Because of his parents’ poverty, he decided to leave school during the fourth year of primary school (in the Malian education system) in order to start earning money. For years he engaged in different types of work but without success. Then he became interested in buying and selling bicycles, and he eventually specialized in it. He learned this type of work from one of his friends. After five years of experience he has mastered this trade and he is highly valued and in demand. In order to meet the demand of his growing clientele, he decided to get involved with Soro Yiriwaso. After having properly repaid his five previous loans, he is on his sixth individual loan with which he plans to buy 25 bicycles of different types (small, medium, and large). He gets his supplies in Bamako from wholesalers and makes his sales at the main market in Bougouni to a diverse and varied clientele. He hopes to make, with this loan, a monthly profit of 70,000 FCFA which will be used to repay the loan and to reinvest in his business.