Now in his late twenties, Abderrazak Elghoudani left high school in order to work and help his family. He lives with his parents and his wife in Biougra, a village near Agadir in southern Morocco. When he was interviewed, Abderrazak and his wife were expecting a baby.
“I used to sell cigarettes and key-rings in the street and earned 30 dirhams (DH) per day but it wasn’t a regular income. In those jobs, I also faced a lot of problems like theft, unfair competition, aggression and violence. I decided to look for more decent work and found a job in a cyber-café for almost a year where I acquired experience in management,” said Abderrazak.
“With my savings and the help of my father who gave me premises, I opened my own grocery store and gained experience in managing, building relationships with customers and providers and in anticipating customers’ needs. The store only covered its expenses, so I thought about adding another business offering video game services and I decided to ask Al Amana for a loan of 20,000 DH (2,300 USD). After the training, I revised my budget and decided that 10,000 DH (1,250 USD) was enough to start my business.
“With this loan, I bought plasma televisions, tables, chairs and CD games. The first day, this service was free for youth and the news about the video games spread by word of mouth and I gained faithful customers. Now, I earn 400 DH (50 USD) per day thanks to my video game business but I won’t stop now. I’m saving regularly in order to hire a young manager and start another business with the help of Al Amana’s loan of course.”
