“The Coke 5by20 Project has helped me expand my business and also create employment for other youth,” explained Lilian Moraa Sosi of the project that is called 5by20. 

The goal of the project is to reach 5 million women by the year 2020 with interventions to increase entrepreneurialism. USAID is partnering with the Coca-Cola Company through Kenya’s National Youth Bunge (Youth Group) Association to provide free refrigerators and coolants so the women can sell sodas at their businesses.

Sosi owns a grocery kiosk in Ekerema Market, Kisii County. Sosi took out a 30,000 Kenya Shillings ( $322) loan to participate in the 5by20 Project, which enabled her to add Coca-Cola and Wrigley products to her stock. The project provided her with a Coca-Cola refrigerator to chill the merchandise, leading to increased sales and additional profit of more than Ksh 2,000 ($21). She has also employed two more people.

After repaying her first loan in three months, Lilian bought farmland with another loan of Ksh 200,000 ($2150). She can now comfortably pay her two children’s boarding school tuition.  “Thanks to the success of my shop, I can now afford better schools for my two children,” explains Sosi.

Sosi is a member of the Kisii County Youth Bunge Savings and Credit Cooperative (SACCO), one of around 30 SACCOs offering financial services under the Yes Youth Can project. USAID’s Yes Youth Can project encourages youth to engage in community service and micro enterprises. The project’s main objective is to strengthen Kenyan youth organizations to be agents of positive change in their communities.

Susan Mokeira, 27, joined the same SACCO in 2014 and saved Ksh 30,000 ($322) in three months, qualifying her for a Ksh 90,000 ($970) loan. She bought a motorbike which she is using it as a business for providing public transport to others. The motorbike business enabled her to expand her salon and repay the loan.

“The success of Lilian’s shop encouraged me to start saving,” she said. “Right now I make good money and I’m able to take care of my family stress-free.”