Amana, Muslim Aid Fund Small Entrepreneurs in Colombo

Muslim Aid Sri Lanka Field Office (MASL) and Amana Investments Limited launched their unique microfinance scheme by distributing cheques to 10 small scale entrepreneurs in Colombo last week.

Following the signing of an MoU between the two organisations in April this year, funds totalling Rs. 380,000 were handed to 7 women and 3 men micro-entreprene- urs in Kompannyweediya who lack the capital to expand and develop their businesses. Without collateral, banks are unwilling to take the risk on such entrepreneurs.

The beneficiaries received between Rs. 10,000 and Rs. 60,000 each in the form of specialized Islamic finance facilities without any collateral but supported by peer group cross guarantees and a community based monitoring system. MASL will provide basic training to the beneficiaries including book keeping, management and marketing.

Amana Investments Managing Director Faizal Salieh stressed that the scheme was open to all communities irrespective of ethnicity or creed.

He also reminded the recipients that the funds were effectively loans that had to be repaid, not grants, “Microfinance is a cycle, a river that never ends. When you repay us, we can pass the money on to many more people and even back to you,” he explained.

“What matters most to us is the number of beneficiaries whose hearts and minds we can touch and whose entrepreneurships we can enable through this scheme and not so much the amount of finance disbursed,” he said.

Beneficiaries were chosen for their entrepreneurial skills, with recommendations from the various network partners including the Kompannyweediya Mosque Federation and the Sri Lanka Malay Association, he further said.