A Kuwait-based charity has given out micro loans to help get nascent enterprises off the ground in Africa and Yemen, touching the lives of some 39,000 people, it said on Wednesday.

Impoverished families across swathes of Africa have stood to gain from such initiatives, Kuwait Direct Aid Society chief Dr. Abdullah Al-Sumait told KUNA, pointing out that the vast majority of the beneficiaries have been women.

Loans given out by the Kuwaiti charity towards such endeavors over the course of the last seven years were worth nearly KD five million (USD 16 million), he added.

Source: Kuwait News Agency