ROI - Reducing Obstetric Injuries

Our model creates access to financial services for essential two groups of entrepreneurs. In the first case, we are offering micro-credit for micro enterprise at the community level. But the enterprises are collective in these rural settings. In many cases, incomplete development programs have left orphaned assets (like 50 sewing machines) in these communities. Our capital will help activate these orphaned assets and bring these small community enterprise to life. The other group of entrepreneurs to benefit from our capital are operating on a district level. These will be businesses that span several communities. We will provide growth capital to these business to the extent that their outputs support our program objectives. We call this "Micro-Mezzanine Financing®" as we mix debt and equity to fit the situation. These organizations will also provide living wage jobs to many people in our constituency base. Some of these people will eventually start their own enterprises.

We have designed this system specifically for replication and scalability. We believe it is a relevant model for any rural African and possibly south Asian community. The growth of micro-credit monetized human relationships and the market realized that profit could be found in extending credit where it had never before existed. The first aspect of our model does not deviate from this market strategy. The second aspect of the project is the next logical step to support those exceptionally successful micro-entrepreneurs. Micro-Mezzanine Financing® has the potential to reach far more people through the efficient deployment of investment capital. We think anywhere where micro-credit has grown rapidly is a place where district level business consolidation is a logical next step. We want to support and/or drive the creation and growth of these businesses through the distribution of debt and the purchase of convertible equity.

First, micro-credit will be available to every person who desires its use. Anyone, no matter their gender or medical disability, should be able to leverage the power of individuals committed to each other. But individual or small group financing should not be the limit for enterprising people in the developing world. There will be Micro-Mezzanine Financing® set up all over the developing to consolidate and syndicate creative business concepts. This level of finance will essentially serve as the capitalizing entity to small business across the continent. As we all know, small business is the engine for sound economic development and the creation of a large and stable middle-class. We will see a cadre of small businesses with empowered staff delivering products and services in a socially accretive manner. Poverty will be serioulsy handicapped by all this smart commercial development.

To deliver micro-credit to our target population, we only need to coordinate the right partners in our target regions. Our social working partners are already implementing elements of this program and have participated our program development. They are ready to implement. We only need the capital to begin. Creating the Micro-Mezzanine Financing® structure is a bit more challenging. First, we need to design a structure that creates an investment environment in the absence of capital markets or legal structures. We think it is possible to create this environment to creative capture and distribution of operating cashflow. We need only a couple examples to prove the model and will select our test investments very carefully.