Sofifund |
Corporate Social Responsibility |
"Kindness is the golden chain by which society is bound together."
- J. W. von Goethe
Wasseela in English is literally, ‘a means’. Wasseela is a micro credit program to be introduced by the recently established Sofifund, Sofico’s non-profit organization for community development. It is a means to create a national venture philanthropy environment that promotes and strengthens micro scale entrepreneurial initiatives to be sustainable business establishments.
Through Wasseela, Sofifund will pilot and eventually franchise a tested sustainable model of venture philanthropy in micro credit by 2012. The approach for Wasseela’s credit program is aimed to take micro credit a step forward from where it stands in the present environment in Egypt, to a more engaging level of contribution to community development.
The foundations of the Wasseela’s approach are rooted in a number of values that Wasseela upholds.
- Initiative and follow through is a value that captures the essence of entrepreneurial behavior, which is strongly believed as a thoroughbred power to be harnessed for community development.
- Social responsibility is the long-term investment every entrepreneurial initiative is believed must make for sustainable growth and development.
- Partnerships and collective wisdom, Wasseela believes in mobilizing the latent and potential energies, in building partnerships and capitalizing on the specialties of its partners; eliminating repetition and redundancy. Wasseela also believes in the collective wisdom that can be tapped by the virtues of respectful listening in all interactions and at all levels.
Wasseela’s credit program targets entrepreneurs. These are expected to constitute no more than 5% of the total micro credit beneficiary population. Those selected to work with the Wasseela program will receive, in addition to investment finance, technical assistance services, mentoring, and support to grow and develop into established businesses. Over the course of three years towards graduation, Wasseela will work with it partners to build human capital and organizational strength to mature entrepreneurial projects to sustainable establishments. True to its values, Wasseela will work to build links between the emerging entrepreneurial entities and leading corporations in their respective areas of operation.
These select few are seen as multipliers of the inputs received to the community development. Their returns will reflect in job creation, CSR investment, promotion of entrepreneurial spirit, as well as their and the Wasseela credit fund financial sustainability.
Ultimately Sofifund would like to see the approach developed under Wasseela a successfully franchised model and a catalyst to community development throughout the region.