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Check out the quarterly Phakamani News.
February 2012
Our new branch in the Jane Furse area of Limpopo already has 270 entrepreneurs in the program! We expect to add 60 per month. Jane Furse is Phakamani's eighth branch.
January 2012
In 2011 Phakamani passed the 50% sustainability mark – meaning our revenues covered more than 50% of our costs for the year. This is great news and is according to plan. We continue to increase sustainability at a steady pace even as we expand to serve more needy people.
Phakamani now qualifies to receive charitable funds from South African companies under the Enterprise Development (ED) and Social and Economic Development (SED) categories of the national Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) program. Many thanks to Bravura Consulting for helping us navigate the formal approval process.
November 2011
Phakamani Foundation's operating model and insights were featured on Radio Today's "Challenging Change" program hosted by Tshikululu Social Investments, in Johannesburg. Listen to the 30-minute program podcast now and find out how Phakamani creates self-employment opportunities for hard-working South Africans in poor rural areas.
October, 2011
Good news! Phakamani has gained Public Benefit Organisation (PBO) status in South Africa. While we were already a registered non-profit entity, PBO with section 18A status means dona-tions to Phakamani are now tax deductible and we are eligible for new sources of charitable funding.
New Branch: A new branch is being planted in the Jane Furse area of South Limpopo, first loans are expected this month. This is our eighth branch.
Looking to 2012: Phakamani is planning three new branches next year. This means that loan outputs and repayment revenues will grow as we begin to serve about 70% more entrepreneurs (targeting 8 700 active borrowers in total by the end of 2012.) It also means that costs will increase, even as we continue a steady climb towards operational sustainability. Phakamani is reaching out to both existing and new partners to help fund this expansion.
Measuring Impact: A Phakamani loan means a self-employment job and needed income for each new entrepreneur. But we want to do better than that. In June, we reported that Phakamani had implemented a new internal monitoring system to gauge what impact our program has on the living conditions of our entrepreneurs. Our surveys showed overall improvement between the first and fifth loans, while the entrepreneurs managed to save money as well.
