CELEBRATING 30 YEARS OF GLOBAL PARTNERSHIPS
The Interconnected Approach to Impacting Global Poverty
By Medha Wilson, Group Chief Executive Officer, MicroLoan Foundation
When I first stepped into my role as Group CEO of MicroLoan Foundation in 2018, I felt both the weight of responsibility and the excitement of opportunity. Taking over from the founder Peter Ryan, I knew I was stepping into an organization with a profound mission. What started as a small charity in rural Malawi—born from Peter’s realization of the severe poverty and financial exclusion women faced—had grown significantly. Today, we operate not just in Malawi but also in Zambia, Zimbabwe, and South Africa.
At the time of my arrival, the organization was doing amazing work on a relatively small scale with funding from UK-based donor contributions. My primary goal was clear: to transform this charity into a sustainable organization capable of scaling lasting impact. To do so, I needed to strengthen our leadership team, craft a credible break-even plan for each country affiliate, and bring on impact-first investors like Global Partnerships to finance our growth. These efforts were essential in helping us quadruple our total assets and achieve profitability across the countries where we now operate.
What I am most proud of, however, is that we’ve done so while sustaining our mission focus on providing the poorest women in sub-Saharan Africa with the tools and skills needed for them to work their way out of poverty.
The donors and investors we’ve partnered with along the way, and the type of capital they’ve provided, have been critical in delivering these results. The women we serve live in remote, hard-to-reach places and need multi-faceted support to improve their economic situations. We provide small working capital loans coupled with extensive, ongoing training so our clients can grow their productive activities and increase their incomes. It’s a high-touch, expensive model.
However, by charging our clients interest and being disciplined in managing our expenses, we were demonstrating progress toward achieving operational self-sufficiency. In other words, we were generating sufficient revenue to fund core operations. But, we needed working capital to grow our loan book.
As we began to think about taking on debt, there was limited availability from local banks, which required collateral. We knew international lenders could provide unsecured senior debt, but we worried that the cost of capital would be too high, forcing us to move up market or scale back our education services. We were pleasantly surprised to learn that Global Partnerships’ interest in lending to us was because of our focus on women living on only a few dollars a day and our holistic offering. They understood the economics of our approach and explicitly sought to provide capital at a price that would help us to sustain it.
It was these loans, sourced from impact-first investors like Global Partnerships, that allowed us to scale and reach more women in need. These funds became the lifeline that enabled us to grow within existing branches, open new ones, and extend our reach to new regions.
As rewarding as this work has been, sourcing aligned capital to finance our growth hasn’t been without challenges.
Over the years, the landscape of microfinance has shifted dramatically. Once celebrated as a powerful tool to combat poverty, the industry has become increasingly commercialized. The pursuit of market-rate returns has led to migration up market or has been shouldered by women like those we serve—women in sub-Saharan Africa who are disproportionately excluded and most vulnerable to high interest rates and over-indebtedness.
Unlike regions such as Asia and Latin America, where commercialization has achieved some success, sub-Saharan Africa presents unique challenges. In countries like Malawi, the realities of widespread poverty and financial exclusion, weak infrastructure, political instability, and currency fluctuations are ever-present. Traditional investment models often fail in these environments. Working with investors and donors who understand these realities—and are willing to adopt a patient, flexible approach—is essential.
Partners like Global Partnerships have been invaluable, showing the openness and adaptability needed to navigate the economic volatility and social complexities of the region. They understand that the economics of our mission look different, and they are interested in funding deliberate, long-term capital plans that prioritize sustainable impact over immediate financial gain. For us at MicroLoan Foundation, this means supporting women not just with loans but with opportunities to create lasting change in their communities.
A $35 microloan may seem small, but for many women, it is the first step toward lifting themselves and their families out of poverty.
And there are broader benefits of taking this approach. By enabling women to achieve economic independence, we’re not just helping them escape poverty. We’re building stronger, more resilient communities that are better equipped to face the effects of climate change and gender inequality. This interconnected approach is central to the organization’s mission, even though the narrative around microfinance often fails to highlight these broader benefits.
Leading MicroLoan Foundation through this season of growth hasn’t been easy, but it has been deeply fulfilling. Every woman we support represents a step forward—not just for her, but for her family and her community.
As I look to the future, I’m hopeful that more investors and donors will join us in embracing our mission and adopting an approach that connects loans and opportunity for a path forward.
Together, we can create a world where even the smallest opportunities lead to transformative change.
MicroLoan Foundation has been a Global Partnerships partner since 2021. In addition to providing impact-first capital, Global Partnerships provided impact advisory services and support, enabling the foundation to take part in 60 Decibels assessments. The 60 Decibels 2023 Microfinance Index ranked MicroLoan Foundation’s branch in Zambia as the fourth most impactful financial services provider in the world.