One Day in the Life of a Senegalese Loan Officer

In 2011, it was estimated that nearly half of Senegal’s population of 13.5 million people were living below the poverty line. When these families struggle to care for their children, boys and girls often battle to attend school, they don’t receive the healthcare they need and they lack proper nutrition.

For over a decade, VisionFund has been working in Senegal, the West African nation. From humble beginnings, the microfinance institution (MFI) now serves over 9,000 active borrowers, impacting more than 11,000 jobs and nearly 60,000 children.

In the spring of 2016, we travelled to the rural community of Fatick, a village 150 kilometres southeast of the capital. Determined to document a day in the life of one of our loan officers, we met with Mbayta, one of our female loan officers in Senegal. These loan officers work to provide microloans across Senegal to groups of women, these women then work together to improve the livelihood of their communities and help each other start and maintain small businesses.

Take a moment to watch our short film highlighting Mbayta in ‘ONE DAY’ (available in English and French).

The film is an example of the power of community, and illustrates how microfinance is being used the world over to help entire communities break the poverty cycle.

VisionFund provides financial services in 28 countries to some of the poorest communities around the globe. The goal of this network of microfinance institutions (MFIs) is to empower families to develop their businesses, increase family incomes and create a brighter future for children. Mbayta joins our 7,000 staff located around the world who are dedicated to seeing families transformed when accessing small loans and other financial services.