Story and photos by Eleanor Gee

Soloa Fisi, from Patangata was named Business Woman of the Year at the 8^th SPBD Annual Business Woman of the Year Awards, in Nuku’alofa today, 9 November.

The SPBD awards recognize women entrepreneurs who have started small businesses through the use of the South Pacific Business Development Microfinance Ltd. loans. Guest of Honour, Lord Fakafanua, with SPBD founder and President Greg Casagrande, presented the awards.

Hundreds of women attended the event today at Kalofiama ‘o Epworth Hall, which included entertainment by the Tupou College brass band and a ta'olunga. 

Meleseini Napa’a from Houma awarded first runner up and ‘Alilia Langi from Ha’atafu, second runner up.

In a video played on a screen at the event, the three finalists said they were happy to be members of SPBD, which had helped them start small businesses such as cooking for a school canteen, planting and selling foodcrops, and making and selling handicrafts, such as kie kie, to improve the standard of living for themselves and their families. 

Lord Fakafanua congratulated the women for their achievements and thanked the SPBD founder for starting the microfinance company in Tonga. He likened the SPBD microfinance program to an African proverb ‘If you want to go fast, go alone, if you want to go far, go with friends and family’.

“That sums up the work that SPBD is doing both in the region and in Tonga," he said. “SPBD are equipping our women with the knowhow and the capital to achieve their goals.”

Casagrande also congratulated the women and shared three key ideas to encourage them. The first was to keep their dreams alive, the second was to save and invest - especially in educating their children, and the third was to lead themselves before leading others.

He said SPBD had “successfully worked with nearly 10,000 families, in nearly each and every village spread across Tongatapu, Vava’u, Ha’apai, and ‘Eua". And provided them "with over $69 million pa’anga of unsecured credit”.

Other awards presented included Outstanding Individual Saver, won by Lu’isa Faupula from Tufuenga, Outstanding Center Secretary won by ‘Ofa Piukana from Ha’atafu, and Outstanding Center Chief won by Tonga Veilofia from ‘Ahau.

The Lapaha Center won the Outstanding Savings Center award, and ‘Ahau won the Outstanding Center of the Year award.

The microfinance loans are part of the SPBD’s goal to eradicate poverty across the Pacific by empowering women in poor rural villages with the opportunity to start, grow and maintain sustainable, income generating micro enterprises, build assets, as well as finance home improvements and childhood education.