AMMAN — Abeer Mustafa Mohammad, who used to sell natural cosmetic products from home, now employs 14 workers and has a monthly income of JD5,000.

Mohammad, who started with a capital of JD1,000, was among 34 small business entrepreneurs honoured by Her Majesty Queen Rania on Sunday for actively contributing to the Kingdom’s economy.

“You are all wonderful role models for the rest of your community… and your projects are great examples of the way in which microfinance can be such a powerful stepping stone to financial freedom,” Queen Rania told the recipients of the second annual Citigroup Global Microentrepreneurship Award.

The objective of the award, in partnership with the Jordan River Foundation (JRF), is to illustrate the effective role that microfinance plays in poverty alleviation around the world.

“The programme seeks to generate recognition for contributions that individual microentrepreneurs have made to the economic sustainability of their families as well as their communities,” Citigroup General Manager Ziad Akrouk said in his opening address at the award ceremony.

Under a selection criteria designed by the JRF, 15 micro-finance institutions were contacted to nominate clients that exhibited excellence in areas such as loan repayment, business growth, employment growth and impact on their communities, according to a JRF statement.

“Women consisted of 75 per cent of the project entrepreneurs, and the projects provided 213 paid job opportunities,” said Maha Khatib, director general of the Jordan River Foundation.

Arwa Daemn, for example, found a niche in the market and pursued it successfully after her first loan of JD2,000 from the Jordanian Hashemite Fund for Human Development (JOHUD) in 1998. The loan helped her secure equipment needed to open a beauty and training centre in Jabal Hussein.

“After receiving a cosmetic diploma from Spain, I noticed there were no centres to perform procedures like botox or laser skin treatments… a second loan of JD6,000 helped update equipment as it is a continually advancing field. My business averages a JD12,000 annual net profit,” Daemn told The Jordan Times.

The mother of three is also the first professor of cosmetic science in the country. The four-year bachelors programme taught at the Hashemite University recently produced 15 graduates who are all currently employed in the field.

“Microfinance institutions give opportunities to citizens who have a hard time meeting bank criteria for loans,” Faris Nahas, head of the JOHUD credit department, told The Jordan Times. The fund was one of seven institutions from which winners were selected this year.

Maha Faumi, who operates an aluminium recycling business in Baqaa, received her first loan of JD200 at 12 per cent interest from a local women’s centre.

“I was working from home and tried all the banks around me but they rejected my loan application… after being accepted by the women’s fund I was able to rent a small location. I now have four employees operating trucks to distribute my aluminium cans,” Faumi said.

“I encourage those with vision to work hard and eventually they will succeed,” she added.

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