The Peter J. Tobin College of Business’ GLOBE Microloan Program Distributed its First Set of Loans to Four Entrepreneurs in Nigeria

Jennifer Maizel - January 21, 2010

January 2010-Queens--After two intense semesters, GLOBE, a student-managed academic program at The Peter J. Tobin College of Business, distributed its first four loans to entrepreneurs in Nigeria, Africa. The selected candidates, all women, were Emela Romia, Blessing Sunday, Blessing Omotayo, and Uche Muomah. All candidates were native Nigerians who requested the loans to start businesses that would help lift their families out of poverty and offer the possibility of education to their children.

One of the loan recipients, Emela Romia, is a widow with six children from Ute Oheze Village, Edo State, Nigeria. She struggles to take care of her family due to the hardships they have faced economically and physically. Three of her children have severe cases of congenital cataracts. Emela needs to start a business to be able to provide her children with medical check-ups and treatment so they may continue to retain their vision. She plans to use the loan of 25,000 Naira ($163 USD) to create a new petty trade business selling fish and other items.

Other stories are shared within the Entrepreneurs’ section of the newly launched GLOBE website found at: www.stjohns.edu/tobin/globe. GLOBE’s mission is to help alleviate poverty in developing countries by providing small business loans to entrepreneurs in impoverished areas who would otherwise not have access to credit. Simultaneously, GLOBE students learn about the intricacies of microlending policies in the developing world and the value of helping the poor to help themselves.

Through GLOBE, students manage all aspects of the microloan program including: vetting loan applications and setting loan terms, marketing the program, tracking funds flows, fundraising, providing technology to the field, social networking, and measuring program success. In turn, student management permits a low-cost administrative structure with very little overhead costs, allowing nearly 95% of all donations to go directly to the borrower.

An established partnership with the Daughters of Charity, numbering over 25,000 worldwide, has enabled GLOBE to have a network of international, active field partners who identify worthy loan candidates, make recommendations, disseminate funds and collect loan repayments in an ongoing effort to reduce poverty and distress in the communities in which they work. GLOBE currently operates in 7 countries: Kenya, Bolivia, Nigeria, Ghana, Mozambique, Thailand, and Madagascar. Students enrolled in the GLOBE program also have the opportunity to apply to be a Student Fellow.

In the Student Fellow Program, one or two students are selected annually to travel to a destination where micro loans are distributed. This April, two student fellows will travel to Nairobi, Kenya with Dr. Linda Sama to attend the Microcredit Summit Campaign annual meeting. While in Kenya, student fellows will have the unique opportunity to meet with microfinance experts, attend lectures pertaining to micro credit, and participate in organized field visits to rural borrowers’ communities to witness first-hand the impact that Microcredit programs have on the poor.

Since its launch in Spring 2009, GLOBE has raised over $55,000 and will coordinate another fundraising event on campus this Spring 2010 semester.

For more information, please explore the GLOBE website www.stjohns.edu/tobin/globe, or contact GLOBE at tcbglobe@stjohns.edu.