We’ll never forget the day we met our first customer. As entrepreneurs it’s the reason we started our company. We spent countless hours doing market research, building our product and preparing our website, all with the dream of solving a problem many students in developing countries face—lack of educational financing opportunities.
Enter Albert, a student with unlimited determination and a simple problem: despite working as a teacher while studying for his undergraduate degree, he had fallen behind on his tuition payments. With one web form submission, our company quickly transformed from theory to reality.
Albert Loppy is from a family of nine, and is the first in his family to attend university in The Gambia. The Republic of the Gambia is a small country of roughly 2 million people on the west coast of Africa.
Three years ago, Albert began his professional career by taking advantage of a scholarship to become a teacher.
While Albert enjoyed being a teacher, his dream was to study diplomacy at the University of The Gambia (UTG). To follow his goal, Albert applied to and received admission to UTG. As is the case for many students in his situation, admission and courses would prove to be the easy parts to his education.
At UTG Albert quickly faced financial difficulties. Yearly tuition costs approximately $720, a nearly impossible sum in a country where a teacher like Albert can expect to earn approximately $680 per year.
“Heading into his junior year, Albert battled a series of challenges to pay his tuition fee and inevitably fell behind. At this point, his only real option was to defer.”
Without wealth or significant family support, there is simply no way for smart, driven students like Albert to further their education. Heading into his junior year, Albert battled a series of challenges to pay his tuition fee and inevitably fell behind. At this point, his only real option was to defer.
It was in this situation when Albert learned about Jump Finance and reached out to us on our website. As our first client, Albert successfully completed our screening process, helping us test our technology and providing us with important feedback. In Albert’s words “when Jump Finance provided me with the financial aid necessary to pay my tuition fees, it helped alleviate stressful moments and helped pave a smoother path for me to accomplish my academic goals.”
“Jump Finance provided me with the financial aid necessary to pay my tuition fees, it helped alleviate stressful moments and helped pave a smoother path for me to accomplish my academic goals.
-Albert Loppy”
Free from the burden of constantly worrying about how he would secure future funding, Albert was able to focus on his studies, earning excellent grades in the fall semester. He finished this semester while completing sustainable monthly repayments that will enable him to secure a second loan if he needs it.
Nearly heading into his senior year, Albert’s plans for the future are characteristically ambitious: “I now have about one year left. After graduating, my intention is to continue to advance my education at the postgraduate level. After this, I hope to serve my nation in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.” Jump Finance plans to support his career efforts with its mentorship and career development support.
Albert believes that the type of access to credit that Jump Finance offers has the potential to “transform this nation.” As he puts it, “we need to empower the young ones so we can bring this country forward.” We couldn’t agree more, and are proud to support Albert in his educational journey.