Short Summary
Yaw Duffour Awuah, a 22-year-old Ghanaian, is the creator of Student Aid Plus, a financial services venture providing educational banking to the education sector in Ghana.At the age of 16, while he was he was in secondary school, Yaw realized that many of his classmates that lived far away were unable to travel back home, because they lacked the funds. He immediately saw an opportunity, which he decided to seize. Bringing together a small group of friends, who became his business partners and from whom he pooled capital, he created a company, Apex Loans, providing small loans to student borrowers with interests. The young entrepreneur also came to realize that most students missed exams due to their inability to pay their fees and had to repeat classes, Yaw decided to add fee loans as well. In order to mark the service expansion and the new educational support dimension, he also decided to change the name of his organization, from Apex Loans to Student Aid Plus. Yaw’s company also started offering financial literacy education to high-school students. The financial literacy sessions are held by professionals and around one hundred student volunteers. The company is successful. While it still operates in one school, At the same time, Yaw’s business has adopted a system which has allowed its default rate to be 0% for which he was awarded the Barclays Award for Creativity and Innovation at a Junior Achievement ceremony held in Accra in 2010. About 1000 individuals have already been impacted.
What We Need & What You Get
Our goal is to reach $100000 in crowdfunding though subsequently we will need more funding. This will go directly into scaling the venture from its stage now and to be able to provide for the growing demand. This will include final structuring of services about to be rolled out, final acquisition of a Tier 3 license which will allow us free role in our operations on such a scale. This will also help us in growing our asset base which is critical to such a business. Also since our physical presence is sought so much we will make this possible through our geographical presence in other regions.
In our bid to reach this funding goal, we are offering our funders unique perks. We give them the opportunity to be a part of our success story and give them a presence in our continuing glory. It's part of our values at Student Aid Plus. We always strive to give our people the best. Our unique perks are as follows:
Sunflower contributors share 1% of the Company's total net profits for 5 years. Plus a "Thank You" by name on all our social media pages.
Violet contributors share 2% of the Company's total net profits for 5 years. Plus SAP-Banking for Education key holder of appreciation.
Bronze contributors share 5% of the Company's total net profits for 5 years. Plus a customised branded SAP - Banking for Education T-shirt with name.
Silver contributors share 10% of the Company's total net profits for 5 years. Plus an SAP branded polo shirt and cap showing appreciation for your crowdfunding contribution.
Gold contributors share 13% of the Company's total net profits for 5 years. Plus name on website as Gold funder. Hand woven thank you portrait with name.
Platinum contributors share 18% of the Company's total net profits. Plus personalised thank you video from the SAP team thanking you by name. Personalised company brochure with name and name on website as a Platinum funder.
Please we will like you to know that the percentages mentioned herein are not equity stakes but part of our reward schemes over the number of years stated as appreciation for funding us and our commitment to you for being part of our success story. Feel free as well to make us know is you require a more bespoke peck not mentioned here: info.sapghana@gmail.com
We believe we will reach our funding goal, nonetheless, if we do not reach this goal we will implement within what the funds will suffice.
The Impact
SAP is the first ever educational financial institution in Ghana and is going to be the first in many countries as we grow to increase our geographical presence. Its objectives will be to create and increase ease of access to finance for the entire educational sector, to help young ones create wealth as they school and importantly increase the rate of access to capital for many young ones who save over a long period of time and would want to delve into entrepreneurship. Its goals and objectives are closely related to the Millennium Development Goals. It has already impacted about 1000 individuals and this number is growing. It is as well going to be beneficial to a contributor as he/she becomes a part of our story in one way or another in the growth of the company. It will be a great opportunity to be, to become and to belong to the growth of SAP. Since it inception in 2010, it has won the National Junior Achievement Competition-2010, the Barclays Award for Innovation and Creativity-2010, represented Ghana at the Africa Region Junior Achievement Company of the Year Competition, Nairobi, Kenya-2010, Anzisha Prize-2012 and Forbes Africa best three ventures to watch out for in Africa-2012. As well, the impact volume will be great as there is some 22 million individuals in education who are our target. It's a venture really to look at.
Risks & Challenges
As we are now we operate from the stance of a micro-bank. This means we can't work to our full capacity. Nevertheless, we are working to progress to the stance of a bank where we will work as a bank (Educational Bank). We will be unlimited in our service delivery. Another challenge is our decision to make some of services smartphone based to increase our ease of access. We have a very qualified team who have decades of experience working the financial terrain and who have know-how to make us approach these challenges with care and ease. In effect we will be effective in all our dealings.
Other Ways You Can Help
Please get the word out and make some noise about SAP's campaign. Use the Indiegogo share tools! Like our Facebook Page and follow us on Twitter. Support us in whatever ways you can support us!
