- Community Development ·
Fund a Small Business Grant in Southern Africa
Since the late 90s, there has been a major decline in the number of people working in the formal sector, due to; low levels of employment or lack of jobs. The pandemic has made us aware of the importance and key roles that entrepreneurs and informal workers have on the success of our economy and in many African countries, the lockdowns have meant that many people have to stop working or lost their jobs due to closure. Now is our time to act which is why this project aims to provide loans to people who have sustainable business ideas, providing them with an income, sense of empowerment as well as creating jobs to provide employment to others.
- Africa
- hello@actionchange.org
![Micro_Loans[1]](https://thegvitrust.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Micro_Loans1.png)
![Micro_Loans_3[1]](https://thegvitrust.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Micro_Loans_31.png)
![Micro_Loans_2[1]](https://thegvitrust.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Micro_Loans_21.png)
![Social_Enrepreneurs_2[1]](https://thegvitrust.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Social_Enrepreneurs_21.png)
Project Summary
Project Challenge
Project Solution
Impact
Reports
Project Summary
With high unemployment rates and low foreign trade, people in Africa are heavily reliant on micro-businesses. Thus, without credit becomes impossible to get a loan to get your business off the ground. Action Change partners with local NGOs and entrepreneurs to provide them with the training, skills and funding they need to get their small business off the ground. Instead of a high-interest rate, the entrepreneur gets to do a donation to a future entrepreneur!
Project Challenge
High unemployment rates and sanctions for foreign manufacturing means that there are limited opportunities to earn an income. Without financial security, getting access to the initial loans to start a business is difficult, if not possible. With only a small number of people having credit to start an enterprise, the opportunities to be self-sufficient makes access to break the cycle of poverty unequal and income inequality continues to rise.
Project Solution
Together with local NGOs and institutions, we identify entrepreneurs with a solid and sustainable business idea. After a selection process, each entrepreneur will get the capacity building required to be given the best opportunity for success. Once trained, they will be assisted with the initial products to be able to earn the money to continue the operations independently. Instead of a high-interest rate, the entrepreneur gets to do a donation to a future entrepreneur!
Impact
By giving people access to starting capital, communities will quickly become self-sufficient. This will not only ensure that they will not on foreign support but further have the funds to put their children through school, get access to healthcare services and participate in the greater economy. Aside from providing an income to the entrepreneur, this also creates employment opportunity for others as the businesses grow, helping to develop the communities in which they work. This will break the cycle of poverty.
Reports
Project Report | Oct 6, 2026
Sewing grants for success
By William Day | Impact and Operations Officer
Dear friends, donors, and interested people, Our new primary focus for this project is to support graduates from our sewing classes in setting up their own small businesses with a kick-starting small grant. Fundraising has been slow in the past so we changed our grant system from $300 (which funded a whole sewing machine and fabric starter kit) to $50 (which just funds the materials needed). To make this work we hope to open up our sewing studio in the afternoons to allow graduates to use the machines for free! However this requires more funding again to ensure there is a teacher or some security supervising; this delayed this element of the project. Continuing with the theme of new beginnings, another potential way of supporting people to start small businesses is business training: this will help aspiring micro-entrepreneurs to manage budgets & cash flow, price goods & services, and introduce them to marketing, all of which will improve sustainability. Thank you for reading and supporting.
Project Report | Jun 9, 2026
The Success of Skills Training
By Richard | Project Leader
They didn’t quit, and neither did we.
If you caught our update back in February, you know we were facing a massive funding squeeze that left our loan pot completely empty. In a tough economic climate, we simply couldn’t hand out the physical cash or startup kits our entrepreneurs needed to launch their businesses.
But instead of throwing our hands up, we pivoted hard. We realized that if we couldn’t give them capital today, we would give them every single skill imaginable to ensure that when they do get that funding, they are absolutely unstoppable. We jumped straight into intensive masterclasses, teaching our graduates everything from pricing for profit and margins to budget marketing and sales confidence.
The strategy worked beautifully. Our graduates completely shifted their mindset from waiting for a break to actively creating one. They have been utilizing their expert global mentorship sessions to find incredibly creative ways to start small and hustle with what they have.
Now, we are ready to jump right back into fundraising to refill that loan pot and give our current trained graduates the physical financial nudge they need to scale. If a donation isn’t possible for you, you can still be an absolute superstar for free just by sharing our link or even volunteering your time as a remote business mentor!
With high unemployment rates and low foreign trade, people in Africa are heavily reliant on micro-businesses. Thus, without credit becomes impossible to get a loan to get your business off the ground. Action Change partners with local NGOs and entrepreneurs to provide them with the training, skills and funding they need to get their small business off the ground. Instead of a high-interest rate, the entrepreneur gets to do a donation to a future entrepreneur!
High unemployment rates and sanctions for foreign manufacturing means that there are limited opportunities to earn an income. Without financial security, getting access to the initial loans to start a business is difficult, if not possible. With only a small number of people having credit to start an enterprise, the opportunities to be self-sufficient makes access to break the cycle of poverty unequal and income inequality continues to rise.
Together with local NGOs and institutions, we identify entrepreneurs with a solid and sustainable business idea. After a selection process, each entrepreneur will get the capacity building required to be given the best opportunity for success. Once trained, they will be assisted with the initial products to be able to earn the money to continue the operations independently. Instead of a high-interest rate, the entrepreneur gets to do a donation to a future entrepreneur!
By giving people access to starting capital, communities will quickly become self-sufficient. This will not only ensure that they will not on foreign support but further have the funds to put their children through school, get access to healthcare services and participate in the greater economy. Aside from providing an income to the entrepreneur, this also creates employment opportunity for others as the businesses grow, helping to develop the communities in which they work. This will break the cycle of poverty.
Project Report | Oct 6, 2026
Sewing grants for success
By William Day | Impact and Operations Officer
Dear friends, donors, and interested people, Our new primary focus for this project is to support graduates from our sewing classes in setting up their own small businesses with a kick-starting small grant. Fundraising has been slow in the past so we changed our grant system from $300 (which funded a whole sewing machine and fabric starter kit) to $50 (which just funds the materials needed). To make this work we hope to open up our sewing studio in the afternoons to allow graduates to use the machines for free! However this requires more funding again to ensure there is a teacher or some security supervising; this delayed this element of the project. Continuing with the theme of new beginnings, another potential way of supporting people to start small businesses is business training: this will help aspiring micro-entrepreneurs to manage budgets & cash flow, price goods & services, and introduce them to marketing, all of which will improve sustainability. Thank you for reading and supporting.
Project Report | Jun 9, 2026
The Success of Skills Training
By Richard | Project Leader
They didn’t quit, and neither did we.
If you caught our update back in February, you know we were facing a massive funding squeeze that left our loan pot completely empty. In a tough economic climate, we simply couldn’t hand out the physical cash or startup kits our entrepreneurs needed to launch their businesses.
But instead of throwing our hands up, we pivoted hard. We realized that if we couldn’t give them capital today, we would give them every single skill imaginable to ensure that when they do get that funding, they are absolutely unstoppable. We jumped straight into intensive masterclasses, teaching our graduates everything from pricing for profit and margins to budget marketing and sales confidence.
The strategy worked beautifully. Our graduates completely shifted their mindset from waiting for a break to actively creating one. They have been utilizing their expert global mentorship sessions to find incredibly creative ways to start small and hustle with what they have.
Now, we are ready to jump right back into fundraising to refill that loan pot and give our current trained graduates the physical financial nudge they need to scale. If a donation isn’t possible for you, you can still be an absolute superstar for free just by sharing our link or even volunteering your time as a remote business mentor!
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