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From juices to a micro-empire, a Fijian success story

Miriama Tawalovo began selling fruit juices by the Nabokalou Creek in Suva. She is now the proud owner of three micro-finance businesses in Fiji and an avid entrepreneur.

From such humble beginnings she has just won Best Microfinance Entrepreneur 2014 in the individual category 2014 announced by the Reserve Bank of Fiji in November.

"MoneyMinded really opened my eyes to what I could do with my career with responsible and disciplined financial habits"
Miriama Tawalovo, Entrepreneur

Tawalovo is a natural business woman, each venture giving her ideas for the next. But she has also benefited from training and lessons in basic financial literacy, in this case via ANZ MoneyMinded program.

Tawalovo participated in MoneyMinded in 2010 and has worked hard to build responsible and disciplined financial habits, making it possible to diversify her businesses from juices to a minimart and pig farm in her village.

"MoneyMinded really opened my eyes to what I could do with my career with responsible and disciplined financial habits," she says.

First rolled out in Australia in 2003 and adapted in 2010 for the Pacific and 2013 for Asia, MoneyMinded is an adult financial literacy program that provides practical, hands-on skills that improve participants’ money management and confidence.

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The views and opinions expressed in this communication are those of the author and may not necessarily state or reflect those of ANZ.

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