Meet Ndeye. She runs a cosmetic and hairdressing business in Dakar, Senegal. She sells perfumes and hair products, and before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, she rented out the salon to a local barber.
“My business has always worked well,” Ndeye tells us. “I never worried because I thought people would always need to get haircuts, and they’d always need soap and things.”
But as COVID became more prevalent, people stopped going to the barber’s, which forced him to give up his rented space. Ndeye was left to cover those costs and pay all the rent herself, which was difficult as her cosmetics sales were also down.
Boosting businesses through training
Our project, funded by the Welsh Government, provides business development training, aimed mainly at female entrepreneurs. Ndeye participated in this training, which helped her to identify gaps in the market and reorient her business.
She identified that during the pandemic there was an increase in money transfer services such as Wari and Orange Money. With people unable to travel to other regions or meet in person in Dakar, these services were more in demand than ever.
Ndeye knew this was a key way she could increase her income. So she applied for an investment from the project to help set up a money transfer service to make her business more resilient during the pandemic.
Investing wisely
Ndeye used the investment she received from our project to install an internet connection in her shop. This enabled her to set up the mobile money kiosk service.
With the rest of the funds, she bought a table to put outside her shop to display popular products like water and milk. This meant people could buy without needing to go inside the shop, helping with social distancing.
Ndeye’s barber still hasn’t returned, but the additional income generated from her diversified business means that she no longer has to worry about how to pay the rent.
This project was funded by Welsh Government
