Mesofinance Media - News

Liberation Community Finance Pilots Group Microfinance Lending to Congolese Refugees in Uganda

Fri, 21 Nov 2025 09:02:33 -0500

The Ugandan social enterprise Liberation Community Finance recently launched an 18-month program to help refugees from DRC integrate into life in Uganda. The microlender has partnered with the government of Uganda and a refugee-led NGO to identify members of the community who are interested in launching microbusinesses. Many of the refugees are taking English classes to help integrate into their host cities. Others are learning trades such as sewing, baking and hairdressing.

With the support of an interest-free loan of USD 20,000 from Belgium’s Credit Sud, Liberation has opened nearly 1,000 accounts for groups of refugees, whose members are 90% women. Liberation also lends to members of host communities, generally on an individual basis.

From an operational standpoint, the loans are about 45% digitized. Initial KYC and applications are done on paper, but once borrowers get to their third loan cycle, they are well-enough known to the company that their interactions can be fully online.

Liberation was founded in 2017 and is now a social business 95%-owned by Patrick Batenze (pictured). Mr Batenze, who joined the company as its CEO in 2022, told Mesofinance Media last week at IF25 in Luxermbourg: “Funding has become harder to access, especially for the most vulnerable groups. Funders have become more driven by the balance sheet, at the expense of impact.”

Thierry Deflandre, who has served as an advisor to Liberation, explained to Mesofinance Media how his philosophy aligns with Credit Sud’s model: “As an impact investor, I am fond of interest-free loans, so I don’t pay taxes, but the money does the work and can be re-invested. That’s why I joined Credit Sud.”

Liberation also has been innovating in the area of governance. As a result of past fraud by branch managers, the microbank is rolling out an advisory board for every branch. This board will supervise the branch and its manager, as well as reporting to central leadership.

Looking forward, Liberation aims to grow within the regions it serves as well as to move into the eastern and northern parts of Uganda. It is also working to digitize its operations more fully.

The microbank lends for purposes such as agriculture, trading and school fees - largely to youth. Liberation also offers savings services, training, crop storage, agency banking, bill payments, money transfers and mobile banking. The organization's balance sheet is valued at the apprroximate equivalent of USD 1 million.

The Future of Employment in Africa: Demography, Labour Markets & Welfare by Loic De Canniere, a Book Review

Wed, 22 Oct 2025 19:32:49 -0400

If you are an Afro-pessimist, this book may help to change your mind. If you are not, it may provide you with new and realistic perspectives. Loïc De Cannière is not a dreamer but writes out of decades of field experience with investments in many different African countries – and in other continents too. In 2001 he became the manager of Incofin, an impact investor in Africa, Latin America and Asia with a portfolio that has grown over the years to an amount of 1.1 billion USD. He perfectly knows what he is writing about, and he identifies the levers to address the huge challenges the African continent is confronted with. He focuses on the central issue: funding, and what it is intended to support.

The continent’s limited global prosperity can be attributed to the interplay of five key factors: demography, employment, emigration, and climate change, which contributes to the degradation of agricultural land.

Among these, the most important challenge is demography. The population of sub-Saharan Africa, the fastest growing in the world, is estimated to amount to 2.1 billion in 2050 and 3.4 billion in 2100, surpassing in 2050-2060 the Asian continent. This in majority young population is inventive, dynamic, alert, but also the poorest in the world. Securing employment is the most basic requirement for escaping poverty. Across the African continent, an estimated 20 million new jobs are needed each year to absorb the growing youth population entering the labour market. In the absence of sufficient job opportunities, many people see migration — within Africa or abroad — as an alternative path out of poverty.

Therefore, states the author, the only way to create more prosperity on the African continent is to create jobs. Why then are there not enough jobs?

Among the structural factors explaining the much slower economic development of the African continent compared with other regions are major disruptions, including the legacy of slavery, colonization, colonialism and more recently the effects of climate change. Colonial patterns of plunder, if they ever went away, now come back into the open, as is obvious with the international quest for natural resources, most of all minerals. According to the author, international and national elites are concerned primarily with access to minerals rather than development.

Africa also faces unfair treatment under international policies aimed at combating climate change. Requirements imposed on the African continent to reduce carbon emissions put a heavy economic burden on a continent which is least responsible for climate change.

These limitations, writes the author, can be overcome, for example by an adequate organization of African agriculture and food industry, by integrating sustainable smallholder and family agriculture into the wider environment of agriculture and food businesses, and by improving key elements as e.g. education and training, monitoring and follow-up of smallholder farmers.

The agricultural sector has the potential to employ young job seekers and stimulate bottom-up initiatives for developing and marketing local production. Other potential areas of job creation are local processing of minerals, infrastructure, the creative arts, tourism, the digital economy (spectacularly appropriated at bottom level) etc. Above all, drawing on his extensive experience, Loïc De Cannière emphasizes the significance of the informal economy at the grassroots level as a fertile ground for remarkable initiative, creativity, imagination, and expertise in small-scale trade and production. Obviously, the informal economy is not a magic recipe for development. Structural economic and political conditions are necessary for it to thrive and lead to bigger initiatives. But it is an important lever to stimulate development from the bottom up.

The biggest hurdle for this development is access to finance. The specific contribution of this book lies in its fact-based advocacy for increased funding of MSMEs (micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises), with a particular focus on supporting micro-enterprises to grow into small and medium-sized businesses. The author provides numerous examples of successful funding initiatives, showing that positive outcomes are achieved when certain key criteria are met. He is a firm believer in impact investments, i.e. investments that aim to achieve both financial and positive social-ecological returns.

Impact investments make up just 3.7% of all sustainable investments, partly because EU regulations restrict public access to these higher-risk products. Obviously also, as the author’s personal experience with his investment firm shows, investments in Africa represent more risks than in other continents because of a less stable environment. Opportunities abound—especially in digital services—and with sound risk-mitigation strategies, the potential impact could be substantial. Making impact investment accessible to the public could help channel support toward sustainable, job-creating activities.

An important section of the book criticizes top-down initiatives. Despite a positive evolution within the European Union with much more focus on support for private sector initiatives and job creation, implementation of this new policy remains more than inadequate. The problem is partly structural – for every new initiative, a consensus between all member states must be reached before it can be presented to the partner countries, whose own input will then be very limited. It is partly linked to the new ‘win-win’ policy of partnership, in practice very much focused on the EUs interest rather than the needs of the partner countries. Even highly publicized initiatives such as the Global Gateway do not necessarily respond to the needs of the ‘partner countries’.

The most convincing argument of this book is based on the author’s direct experience with funding for successful (and less successful) initiatives with a positive social or ecological impact, and most of all with the dynamism of the informal sector which may be able partially to absorb the future explosive demographic growth on the African Continent.

It could be the start for several other books about questions naturally left unanswered.

The first is about the necessary institutional and economic environment for local and small initiatives to prosper. What can be done if the environment is less than supportive?

A second aspect worth exploring is resistance. Examining experiences from other communities and countries may reveal valuable lessons about how individuals and societies pursue their own advancement.

A third theme could explore China’s projects and activities, whose vision for Africa’s development differs in some respects but not necessarily in practice. How can African countries engage with China while maintaining control over their own natural resources for development purposes?

Finally, Loïc De Cannière’s book calls for a practical guide for potential impact investors, identifying networks, institutions, contacts, experiences one can learn from in a world which is not easy to penetrate.

In a sense the title of the original Dutch edition is more accurate than the English one: ‘Africa, a future worth dreaming for.’

This review was written by Dr Erik Kennes, Senior Research Fellow – Africa Programme at Egmont - Royal Institute for International Relations in Brussels.

The book is available in hardcover and paperback via various sources, depending on your location: North America, Australia & New Zealand, or any other location.

Loïc De Cannière, The Future of Employment in Africa: Demography, Labour Markets and Welfare, Anthem Press, London-New York, 2025, 159 pages

Financial Services Providers MUST Act Against the Financial Abuse of Women

Fri, 15 Nov 2024 08:43:16 -0500

Institutions that provide financial services are in a unique position to help women who have had their domestic partners or others manipulate their access to money. Thus financial services providers (FSPs) have a responsibility to take concrete actions to prevent instances of financial abuse - and to help victims after abuse has begun.However, the moral argument is not the only one: Minimizing financial abuse can benefit the FSP by increasing repayment rates and client loyalty. Meanwhile, it's important to realize that women are often more open to reporting financial abuse to their FSP than to the police.

An easy way for an institution to start fighting financial abuse is to raise awareness of it among staff. Women don’t always realize right away that they are being abused, and your institution likely has staff as well as customers who are being abused. Partnering with an NGO that specializes in abuse prevention can be very helpful, such as resulted in this series of awareness-raising cat videos (in French with English subtitles).

Other practices FSPs may wish to adopt include:
- Not letting customers cancel their partners' cards,
- Forgiving bad credit history caused by abuse,
- Providing customers a confidential way to report abuse and
- Targeting financial education to households rather than individuals.

This content was delivered by presenters at European Microfinance Week 2024, which is hosted by the European Microfinance Platform. The e-MFP has about 120 members, each of which supports the provision of financial services in lower income countries.

How Mutual Health Insurance Is Protecting Families in Burkina Faso, India & Togo

Fri, 15 Nov 2024 06:14:00 -0500

The microfinance institution Yikri has partnered with its affiliated insurer Tond Laafi to provide health insurance to its borrowers and their families in Burkina Faso. When women borrow from Yikri, the insurance policy is included with the cost of loan, and the borrower becomes an owner of the insurance scheme. Tond Laafi maintains a field officer in each branch of Yikri, and this person travels to meetings of Yikri’s borrowers to educate them on health issues. Meanwhile, Yikri field officers collect insurance premiums at the same time as they collect loan repayments. Originally, the premium payment was the same for all borrowers, but now it is scaled to the size of the loan, with the fee waived for those borrowing the smallest amounts. The monthly fee starts below EUR 1 and ranges up to several euros. The average monthly income of these customers is about EUR 60.

The consulting firm Atia supports Yikri and Tond Laafi in offering the insurance, and it also partners with the Togolese microfinance institution Assilassimé. In selling a similar product, Assilassimé has found that people often are wary of paying for insurance when they are not sick - and given that they earn only about EUR 100 per month. However, potential participants are often convinced when they learn more about the insurance and hear from a current member of the mutual. People are attracted to the idea that their premiums pay to take care of their ill neighbors when they themselves are not in need of health care. Another motivation for women to buy insurance is that most women in a recent survey reported needing permission from their spouse to pay for their own health care services - permission that is not always granted.

Within these mutuals in Burkina Faso and Togo, 40,000 members pay an average of EUR 25 per year for health insurance, with 80% to 90% of those premiums paid out to health care providers. When mutual members access care, they pay 40% of the cost, and the third-party insurer pays the remainder. It is important to be sure that this third-party payment is prompt because delays have caused health care providers to decline the insurance in the past. Another key to success is engaging medical staff is reviewing claims. This saves money by reducing fraud and maximizing the use of generic medication rather than specialty drugs. Also to support financial sustainability, it is important to maximize customer retention. One way to do this is by establishing a timely and effective system for handling complaints.

* * *

In India, Opportunity International has been working to improve the health of poor people in urban areas through a three-year pilot program. The NGO launched an insurance product at an annual cost of USD 8 per household. In response to client demand, it then added a health savings product with a fixed periodic deposit amount. Participants are also keen on access to emergency health care loans because the rate to take such a loan from a payday lender is 20% to 30% per month.

In the first year: (1) the insurance mutual has enrolled 800 people, of whom a quarter are people with disabilities; (2) 54 people have opened health savings accounts; and (3) 300 people - 72% of them women - have taken out medical loans. One challenge is that 90% of those applying for medical loans have been rejected, largely due to over-indebtedness. Applicants have an average of over four outstanding loans, and some have over 20. For recruiting, the best strategies has been pop-up stands staffed by medical personnel and soliciting people who have experienced a recent, expensive medical event.

* * *

Atia recently conducted a randomized controlled trial on its mutual insurance model, whereby half of 2,000 subjects were enrolled in mutual health insurance. The results included that mutual members sought care for medical issues much more quickly and were more likely to buy all - not just some - of the medications they were prescribed. Another finding is that usage of the service was proportionally lower among men relative to women. This can be attributed to three main reasons: (1) when receiving care, many did not realize or remember that they were eligible for insurance coverage; (2) men saw themselves as too strong too need medical help; and (3) men did not want to appear reliant on an insurance benefit by their wives.

Additional data collection addressed the question of making insurance optional rather than bundling it with loans. When Atia offered insurance as an option, payouts were 50% to 100% higher than when it was required. This is due to those who actively opt in to insurance being more likely to need care, use care and remember that they have insurance when visiting the point of care.

This content was delivered by presenters representing the above organizations at European Microfinance Week 2024, which is hosted by the European Microfinance Platform. The e-MFP has about 120 members, each of which supports the provision of financial services in lower income countries.

Delivering Financial Services to Youth as They Take Over the Family Business - or Launch Their Own

Thu, 14 Nov 2024 09:15:00 -0500

For many years, ADA has supported financial services providers (FSPs) around the world in expanding their services to youth. Through market research and testing, the NGO has found various financial and non-financial services that help advance the prospects of younger clients. Examples include combined savings and loan accounts, accounting tools with related coaching, and extended revenue-based funding programs (whereby the borrower repays the loan with a set percentage of profits over three years, versus the standard one year).

While many youth are starting new enterprises, an often overlooked segment of potential customers is young people taking over their family business. This segment is especially relevant in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, where many entrepreneurs launched businesses as regional economies to liberalize in the 1990s. Today, many of those entrepreneurs are moving into retirement. Banks, however, often are wary of the risks involved with the transfer of the business to the next generation. The new owner generally has less experience and may not have training in accounting and other business skills.

To address issues such as these, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) launched a program called Youth in Business in 2022. This program includes funding for three to five years, credit enhancements, and technical assistance for both lenders and borrowers. The credit enhancement includes both first-loss risk and results-based bonuses for the FSP. Under the program thus far, EBRD has disbursed EUR 175 million to 23 FSPs in 13 countries, training 1,600 people and disbursing loans to 6,300 young entrepreneurs.

The ProCredit Group is a new partner of Youth in Business, piloting the effort in Macedonia with an eye toward future expansion to other countries ProCredit serves. The institution is offering youth a product with account fees and collateral requirements suspended, plus an incentive: six months of access to the music streaming service Spotify. Other non-financial services include access to co-working spaces, networking events, university linkages, and training on topics such as accounting and artificial intelligence. ProCredit also hosted a hackathon that connected 120 participants with 20 mentors.

Alter Modus, an FSP in Macedonia, has been partnering with Youth in Business for two years. One challenge has been digitalizing more of the institution’s services to meet customer demand. Meanwhile, the government does not allow certain options, such as electronic KYC or the e-signature of loan documents.

There are many reasons an FSP in a lower income country may choose to boost its youth services. One is to counter the “brain drain” of young people moving abroad to seek economic opportunities. Another is that younger people may be easier - and hence more profitable - to serve because they are digital-first customers. They also may be easier to attract, as they are less likely to have an ongoing relationship with another financial services provider.

The estimated funding gap for youth-led businesses is EUR 100 billion in Central Asia alone. Just 10 percent of this market demand has been satisfied. And the demand is even greater when considering personal finance needs such as for housing and education.

Despite the potential challenges of focusing on serving youth, it is a growing market that can’t be ignored. In fact, as Axel de Ville of ADA has said, “We must do it. It’s a must, and it’s possible!”

This content was delivered by presenters representing the above organizations at European Microfinance Week 2024, which is hosted by the European Microfinance Platform. The e-MFP has about 120 members, each of which supports the provision of financial services in lower income countries.

FSPs in BiH, Morocco, the Philippines Innovate in Lending to Reduce Impacts on the Environment, Human Health

Wed, 13 Nov 2024 09:40:11 -0500

At today’s meeting of the Green Inclusive & Climate Smart Finance Action Group at European Microfinance Week 2024, several organizations working to expand financial inclusion in lower income countries offered examples of their work to harness finance to improve the health of families and reduce climate change.

Partner, a financial services provider (FSP) in Bosnia and Herzegovina, is addressing the fact that families in the country use more than triple the energy to heat their homes than the European average. This is due to poor insulation in many homes, as well as the prevalence of a preference for keeping interior temperatures high. The resulting potential for energy efficiency savings is estimated at EUR 2.5 billion. To date, Partner has disbursed energy efficiency loans - largely for insulation as well as replacing windows and doors - to 31,000 clients. These loans, which comprise about one third of the institution’s portfolio, average about EUR 3,000 each, with a grant of 10% to 20% offered as an incentive to the client to participate. Clients considering applying for a green loan from Partner may access its dedicated green-lending website to learn about efficient technologies, browse equipment providers and calculate potential energy savings.

Attadamoune, an FSP in Morocco, has identified a recurring issue whereby family farmers store fertilizers too close to their homes, resulting in harmful exposure of family members, particularly children. This is part of the motivation to offer farmers funding to convert to using organic inputs. However, before Attadamoune issues a loan, it educates potential clients about why and how to make the transition to green techniques. During a recent pilot phase, the institution disbursed 156 green loans totaling MAD 4 million (USD 400,000). At this time, it has a limit of 10% on the portion of its portfolio dedicated to green finance.

The Microfinance Council of the Philippines is addressing climate change - which is causing an increasing number of deadly typhoons in the country - with a pilot involving three of its member FSPs. The effort has engaged 1,400 clients in training, and the partner lenders have rolled out products funding 22 farmers to adopt green agricultural practices and 1,000 urban borrowers to implement energy efficiency measures and green housing design elements such as generating solar energy. Because the situation of every FSP is different, it is critical to: (1) begin with a baseline study to design an appropriate product; (2) partner with regulators, investors and other stakeholders; and (3) support borrowers with training and education. This training, for example, may include how scientific research ties to practical considerations, such as why climate change necessitates changing practices that farmers may have been using throughout their lifetimes.

More examples such as these are available on The Green Map. This map and other tools are available from the website of the Green Inclusive & Climate Smart Finance Action Group, one of the five Action Groups of the European Microfinance Platform. The e-MFP has about 120 members, each of which supports the provision of financial services in lower income countries. Today’s meeting of the Action Group took place on the first day of European Microfinance Week 2024.

ITU offers tools, training to boost resilience of digital financial services infrastructure

Tue, 20 Feb 2024 11:26:29 -0500

The UN’s International Telecommunication Union recently rolled out a “Cyber Security Resilience Assessment toolkit for DFS Critical Infrastructure” to help regulators and practitioners protect the systems that make digital financial services possible. The toolkit is based on the following “pillars”: Risk Management, Governance, Testing, Training & Awareness, Protection, and Incident Response. ITU also offers in-person and remote “security clinics” several times per year.

Intesa Sanpaolo expanding SME financing, international trade support in Albania, Serbia

Mon, 19 Feb 2024 16:25:26 -0500

Intesa Sanpaolo, an Italian bank with operations in 12 countries in Europe and North Africa, recently expanded a program for small and medium-sized enterprises to its subsidiary banks in Albania, Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia. The program supports SMEs with greater access to finance and cross-border services. In other countries where Intesa Sanpaolo has rolled out this effort, “Just a few months after launch, the project… has achieved results far in excess of the targets set, with more than 600 customers involved and over [USD 270 million] in financing granted,” said Giuseppe Ferraro, Head of the Corporate & SME Department of Intesa Sanpaolo's International Subsidiary Banks Division.

USAID expands Feed the Future program to Guatemala in effort to boost incomes, food security, resilience in rural areas

Mon, 19 Feb 2024 15:01:41 -0500

The US government’s Agency for International Development recently announced it has budgeted USD 6 million to support the financial inclusion of micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises owned by people in Guatemala who are members of one or more of the following groups: women, young people and indigenous citizens. Elements of the program are aimed at “enhancing financial literacy… and helping financial service providers reach underserved rural markets with better, tailored products.” The goals include to boost savings, investments in agriculture, food security and access to digital financial services. Another part of the program is to help people who receive remittances to leverage these funds to meet community goals. The effort is part of a project called Feed the Future, which is active in 20 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean.

Edtech Klas raises $1m to expand platform for teachers, learners in round led by Ingressive Capital

Fri, 16 Feb 2024 15:55:46 -0500

Klas, a Nigeria-based facilitator of lessons taught by 5,000 teachers to 300,000 learners in 30 countries, recently raised USD 1 million for its expansion plans. The firm offers live classes, recorded classes and ebooks. Its features include scheduling, video conferencing and multi-currency payment management. The investors in the fundraising round include Africa-focused Ingressive Capital - which led the round - as well as Techstars, a US-based startup accelerator, and HoaQ Club, which invests in technology businesses owned by Africans around the world.