How Binta Isma’il used a government stipend to build her shoemaking business
Binta Isma’il’s moved from hawking bread under the sun in Abaji market to owning a thriving shoemaking workshop in the same community, showing what resilience plus targeted support can accomplish. In 2019 she became a beneficiary of the Conditional Cash Transfer programme under the National Social Investment Programme of the Federal Government, she used her first stipend to register her new workspace she enrolled and paid to learn shoemaking she bought machines, leather and other tools she needed to build her trade, she says, “I used to hawk bread at Abaji market however since I started collecting this money I used it to register my new place of work”
Her workshop in Abaji, Federal Capital Territory is now more than a business; it is a place where apprentices learn the trade and people earn daily incomes from the work done there.
She recalls days when she carried loaves on her head wet from dew or heat ready before dawn often wondering if life would change.
With the stipend from CCT she made decisions that felt small at first yet turned out to be big she learnt shoemaking she bought a machine she bought materials she persisted when orders were few and when progress was slow she upgraded little by little every pair of shoes sold built confidence every apprentice trained expanded her shop steadily demand came she did not rush she built reputation
Her experience shows what well-targeted programmes can do for persons with little – provide small amounts of capital, enable training, remove certain barriers to entry she advises prospective beneficiaries to use stipends wisely enrol in a trade and invest in needed tools rather than waiting for large sums she says, “From the beginning, I enrolled and paid to learn the trade from the initial instalment of the CCT that was paid to me, because at that time, I was hawking at Abaji market”
Today Binta Isma’il’s workshop is busy, the income is more stable, and the apprentices are more confident.
