Small Loans. Lasting Dignity.

ARCD provides interest-free microloans (Qard Hasan) to aspiring entrepreneurs across Africa, moving families from dependency to self-reliance, one business at a time.

1.1 million

People Reached

Across ARCD's full portfolio of development programs, including healthcare.

$7M+

In-Kind Donations

School supplies, gifts, and essentials are provided directly to sponsored children.

100%

Interest-Free

Micro-loans provided through our Qard Hasan model.

What is
Microfinancing?

Microfinancing provides small, accessible loans to individuals who lack access to conventional banking or financial systems; people who have the drive to build something, but not the capital to start.

Why Millions of Entrepreneurs Never Get Started

In Sub-Saharan Africa, millions of women and young people are locked out of economic participation not by a lack of ambition, but by a lack of access. High unemployment, underemployment, and absent banking infrastructure mean that viable businesses never start, and families remain in cycles of dependency. Microfinance breaks that cycle.

A small loan to buy a sewing machine, a set of carpentry tools, or initial stock for a market stall can be the difference between poverty and a sustainable livelihood, and that livelihood then employs others.

Benefits of ARCD's
Microfinance Program

Every microloan ARCD disburses comes with more than capital. It comes with mentorship, training, and a community structure designed to turn one act of giving into lasting, self-sustaining change across Africa.

Interest-Free Lending

Every loan is structured as Qard Hasan with zero percent interest. Entrepreneurs repay only what they borrow, ensuring debt never compounds into a trap that reverses their progress.

Business Mentorship

Capital alone isn't enough. ARCD pairs loans with hands-on business mentorship and financial literacy training so that entrepreneurs can manage, grow, and sustain their ventures.

Vocational Training

The Empowerment Program sponsors individuals in trades training, equipping them with marketable skills before or alongside their loan disbursement.

Women & Youth Focus

ARCD deliberately targets women and youth (the two groups most excluded from African economic life) ensuring that loans reach those whose empowerment creates the greatest community multiplier effect.

Community-Rooted

ARCD operates from five regional offices across Africa. Programs are delivered by teams embedded in local communities building genuine trust and local accountability.

Ripple Effect Growth

A single microloan that starts a business creates jobs for others. New businesses stimulate local markets. ARCD's model is designed to generate cascading economic growth, not isolated outcomes.

HOW MICROFINANCING CREATES
GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES IN AFRICA

A single loan does not end at the borrower. It moves through a community — creating employment, raising household income, and building the kind of economic foundation that makes external aid unnecessary. This is the chain your donation sets in motion.

Monthly Cash Support

Direct financial aid to cover essentials like food, utilities, and household needs, ensuring stability.

Case Management

Each child is paired with a social worker for regular well-being checks, psychosocial support, and monitoring of health and education.

School Supplies

Bags, books, and stationery so children can attend school prepared and confident.

Ramadan & Eid Gifts

Special support during Islamic holidays, giving children joy and a sense of belonging alongside their peers.

Support Families in Crisis

Support urgent campaigns across the regions we serve.

Urgent

Sponsor an Orphan

Your support provides essentials like food, education, and healthcare to help over 17,000 children thrive

Donate NOW

Restore Vision with Cataract Surgery

Together, we're rewriting new stories for their lives, providing the invaluable gift of sight.

Donate NOW

Sponsor Education in Africa

Your minimum $25 donation can provide a student with essential school supplies, helping them achieve academic success and lifelong learning.

Donate NOW

Qurbani/Uddhiya for Africa - 2026

For many, your Qurbani donation may be their only chance all year to enjoy a nourishing meal with meat.

Donate NOW

I knew the water was not clean. But it was the only water there was.

Amina, 34, lives in southern Chad with her husband and three daughters. For years, she walked four kilometers daily for unsafe water, affecting her children's schooling.

In March 2024, ARCD built a solar well 200 meters away. Now her daughters attend school, she grows market vegetables, and her youngest is infection-free.