Micro Financing

 Microfinance Department (M.F.D)-CTN

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

 

CTN’s microfinance programme has developed and grown out of the most eminent and development oriented youths, one of the renowned universities (Ernest Bai Koroma University of Science and Technology- EBKUST), beset by unique restrictions on enterprise, trade and human development. It first began operations in April 2019, providing credit to small and medium-scale business owners with an initial capital fund of not less than USD 50 to clients.

The department’s aim is to improve the quality of life of small business owners and poor households through the provision of credit and other financial services that reduce poverty, economically empower women and youths and provide income-generating and asset-building opportunities to the community and other proximate poor and marginal groups.
The department strives to provide scalable interventions with measurable macroeconomic impact by concentrating its financial services on poorer urban/rural areas.

 Many people operate small businesses on the margins of the formal economy which include vegetable stallholders, petty traders etc.

 The vast majority are unable to secure affordable credit from banks. Yet if provided with such loans they do not have the ability to repay them, while generating sustainable incomes for themselves, as well as their families, many of whom are drawn from the poorest segments of society. The department’s work is to help close this circle of opportunity and help households become self-reliant.

The department also aims at supporting human development more broadly, by sustaining household consumption and family investments in education and health. Ultimately, we seek to empower people, and in this respect particularly targets women and youth, as well as other economically and socially vulnerable groups.
We carry out our mission in accordance with those standards and best practices that have been developed by the organization.

 At the core of our service model, it is understood that microcredit and related financial services should be sustainable. This means that we aim to recoup our operating expenses, while charging rates of interest that are not only affordable to our clients but also competitive to other microfinance providers.

In this context we strive to make our outreach and operations as cost-effective as possible.

Accordingly, we focus our work on poor, urban/rural areas, which are both centres of commercial and industrial activity and host a high concentration of people.

 

FUNDING AND EVALUATION

 

Since April 2019, the department is running its operations on a self-sustaining fund basis.

The department’s operations are subject to independent in-house audits as well as annual ratings.

It has also increased its status by improving transparency, quality and reliability of its performance.

 To this end, the department is constantly developing and improving its performance and knowledge management and business planning systems within the microfinance context in which it works.

 

DEVELOPMENT OF OUTREACH

The department has a range of microfinance products and services in order to address the interlocking needs of the target communities.
Initially focused on individual small businesses in the early years of the programme, the department soon expand its remit to include micro enterprises and employees of all categories.

Meanwhile, however, the department will also continue to improve and broaden its outreach to smaller borrowers. As part of its wider effort to provide comprehensive financial intermediation to the poor.

 

PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

 

We offer the following:

• Affordable loans
• Savings and credit facilities
• Financial literacy training
• Business support services

Impact: Supporting entrepreneurship and financial independence.

ONLINE LOAN APPLICATION FORM

For official use only!

Click here to open form

 

 

Day-to-Day Activities – Office Assistant

Day-to-Day Activity Schedule for an Office Assistant in an organization. It covers common tasks like administration, communication, filing, and support duties.

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📅 Day-to-Day Activities – Office Assistant

Time	Activity	Details / Notes
08:00 – 08:30	Open office, organize workspace	Switch on equipment, check emails/phone messages
08:30 – 10:00	Receive visitors and answer calls	Greet guests, handle phone inquiries, redirect calls
10:00 – 10:15	Reviewing loan forms	Access 50 loan forms
10:15 – 12:30	Administrative tasks	Filing, photocopying, scanning, preparing documents
12:30 – 13:30	Receive clients	Received tow clients for loan enquiry
13:30 – 15:00	Assist staff with clerical support	Data entry, scheduling meetings, ordering office supplies
15:00 – 15:15	Callimg customer	Call 10 customer on default
15:15 – 16:30	Mail handling and dispatch	Sort incoming/outgoing mail, prepare courier packages
16:30 – 17:00	End-of-day tasks	Clean workspace, update logs/registers, prepare for next day

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🔹 Other Possible Duties

• Maintain office inventory
• Support event logistics (meetings, training)
• Assist with travel and accommodation arrangements
• Basic bookkeeping or petty cash management