Agora Microfinance Zambia (AMZ) is a microfinance institution that began operations in 2011. The organization targets undeserved, low-income, rural households, where the demand for finance is the greatest.
AMZ is a partner in Zambia under our Women-Centered Finance with Education initiative. AMZ estimates that the majority of their clients live below $3.10 a day, are rural based, and are female. AMZ’s loan products are divided into two broad groups; group loans and individual loans. AMZ provides pre-disbursement training to all of their borrowers in groups on basic financial literacy.
Visit WebsiteArifu
Arifu creates an information marketplace on mobile phones for underserved populations, particularly smallholder farmers. Arifu provides users with SMS-based training on best practices such as appropriate use of inputs. Arifu serves an average of 23,000+ smallholder farmer learners every month.
Visit WebsiteBRAC Liberia
BRAC Liberia provides productive use loans to people living in poverty. 98% of BRAC Liberia’s clients are women and 94% are in group lending. Microfinance is an integral part of BRAC Liberia’s development efforts, focusing on poverty alleviation through provision of affordable and easily accessible microloans from branches across the country. The key objective of their microfinance program is to increase access to financial services, especially for women who are excluded by the mainstream financial system. BRAC Liberia was GP’s first partner in Liberia.
BRAC Tanzania
BRAC Uganda
ECLOF Kenya
ECLOF Kenya is part of ECLOF International, a Swiss foundation established in Geneva in 1946. ECLOF’s mission is to promote social justice and human dignity through microfinance. ECLOF’s microfinance services offer vulnerable and excluded people and groups access to capital resources that enable them to build sustainable livelihoods.
Eneza Education
Eneza Education leverages low-cost mobile phones to deliver afford-able and interactive study content. Their goal is for millions of students in Africa to learn more effectively and efficiently.
Envirofit
Envirofit is an industry-leading improved cookstove manufacturer with different stove models for woodstoves, charcoal stoves, LPG stoves as well as institutional/high capacity stoves. Their core business is to manufacture improved cookstoves that are fuel-efficient, have lower CO2 emissions and reduce time to cook. It has sold more than 1.2M cookstoves in over 40 countries as of 2017. Most of their clients are in Latin America (47% of product sales volume), followed by East Africa (20%), India (20%), West Africa (2%) and other markets (11%). Earlier a direct retailer (B2C model), Envirofit has now evolved into a Business-to-Business (B2B) model and sells through channels such as MFIs, retail chains, individuals and other distributors with agent networks.
Fenix Intl
People Served: TBD - new partner
Fenix International is a pay-as-yougo solar company that provides small solar home systems for households living in poverty beyond the electricity grid in Uganda.
Fenix designs, manufactures, distributes and finances high-quality solar home systems at a low-cost with flexible payment options paid via mobile money applications. The home systems provide lighting, phone charging and can even power a television. Fenix has built a network of partners including a sales force that maintains a direct relationship with customers to resolve potential technical issues.
Using mobile money payments and a pay-as-you-go model, Fenix’s technology makes solar power more affordable for households in poverty. The aim of Global Partnerships’ impact-led investment in Fenix is to improve household economics and quality of life for populations living beyond the grid. Clients see reductions in fuel and phone charging costs, increased productivity, decreased smoke from kerosene, and increased study time for their children
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