Related Research Articles
Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa. At 580,367 square kilometres (224,081 sq mi), Kenya is the world's 48th largest country by area. With a population of more than 47.6 million in the 2019 census, Kenya is the 27th most populous country in the world. Kenya's capital and largest city is Nairobi, while its oldest, currently second largest city, and first capital is the coastal city of Mombasa. Kisumu City is the third-largest city and also an inland port on Lake Victoria. Other important urban centres include Nakuru and Eldoret. As of 2020, Kenya is the third-largest economy in sub-Saharan Africa after Nigeria and South Africa. Kenya is bordered by South Sudan to the northwest, Ethiopia to the north, Somalia to the east, Uganda to the west, Tanzania to the south, and the Indian Ocean to the southeast. Its geography, climate and population vary widely, ranging from cold snow-capped mountaintops with vast surrounding forests, wildlife and fertile agricultural regions to temperate climates in western and rift valley counties and dry less fertile arid and semi-arid areas and absolute deserts.
Mombasa is a coastal city in southeastern Kenya along the Indian Ocean. It was the first capital of British East Africa, before Nairobi was elevated to capital city status. It now serves as the capital of Mombasa County. The town is known as "the white and blue city" in Kenya. It is the country's oldest and second-largest city after the capital Nairobi, with a population of about 1,208,333 people according to the 2019 census. Its metropolitan region is the second-largest in the country, and has a population of 3,528,940 people.
Microfinance is a category of financial services targeting individuals and small businesses who lack access to conventional banking and related services. Microfinance includes microcredit, the provision of small loans to poor clients; savings and checking accounts; microinsurance; and payment systems, among other services. Microfinance services are designed to reach excluded customers, usually poorer population segments, possibly socially marginalized, or geographically more isolated, and to help them become self-sufficient. ID Ghana is an example of a microfinance institution.
Grameen Foundation, founded as Grameen Foundation USA, also known as "GFUSA", is a global 501(c)(3) non-profit organization based in Washington, DC, that works to replicate the Grameen Bank microfinance model around the world through a global network of partner microfinance institutions. Its CEO is Steve Hollingworth. Grameen Foundation's mission is, "To enable the poor, especially the poorest, to create a world without poverty." According to the OECD, Grameen Foundation’s financing for 2019 development increased by 33% to US$45.5 million.
Opportunity International is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that is working to end global poverty by creating and sustaining jobs. Through a network of 47 program and support partners, Opportunity provides small business loans, savings, insurance and training to more than 14 million people in the developing world. It has clients in more than 20 countries and works with fundraising partners in the United States, Australia, Canada, Germany, Switzerland, Singapore, Hong Kong and the United Kingdom. Opportunity International has 501(c)(3) status as a tax-exempt charitable organization in the United States of America under the US Internal Revenue Code.
Islam is a minority religion in Kenya representing 10.9% of the Kenyan population, or approximately 5.2 million people. The Kenyan coast is mostly populated by Muslims. Nairobi has several mosques and a notable Muslim population. The faith was introduced by merchants visiting the Swahili coast, which led to local conversions and foreign Muslims becoming assimilated. This would later result in the emergence of several officially Muslim political entities in the region.
Safaricom PLC is a listed Kenyan mobile network operator headquartered at Safaricom House in Nairobi, Kenya. It is the largest telecommunications provider in Kenya, and one of the most profitable companies in the East and Central Africa region. The company offers mobile telephony, mobile money transfer, consumer electronics, ecommerce, cloud computing, data, music streaming, and fibre optic services. It is most renowned as the home of MPESA, a mobile banking SMS-based service.
Uchumi Supermarkets, often referred to simply as Uchumi, is a Kenyan supermarket chain. The word uchumi means "economy" in Swahili.
Kiva is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization headquartered in San Francisco, California, that claims to allow people to lend money via the Internet to low-income entrepreneurs and students in 77 countries. Kiva's mission is "to expand financial access to help underserved communities thrive." They have been accused of deceptive business practices, misleading donors into believing their funds would be used for specific individuals and misrepresenting other aspects of their operations.
Ingrid Munro, born Ingrid Mårtensson 25 March 1941 in Norrköping, Sweden, is a Swedish architect who founded and manages Jamii Bora, a microfinance organization based in Nairobi, Kenya.
The predominant religion in Kenya is Christianity, which is adhered to by an estimated 85.52% of the total population. Islam is the second largest religion in Kenya, practised by 10.91 percent of Kenyans. Other faiths practised in Kenya are Baháʼí, Buddhism, Hinduism and traditional religions.
Translators without Borders (TWB) is a non-profit organization set up to provide translation services for humanitarian non-profits. It was established in 2010 as a sister organization of Traducteurs Sans Frontières, founded in 1993 by Lori Thicke and Ros Smith-Thomas of Lexcelera. As of 2012 it had about 1600 vetted volunteer translators. TWB aims to close the language gaps that hinder critical humanitarian efforts by connecting non-profit humanitarian organizations with a volunteer community of professional translators, building language translation capacity at the local level and raising awareness globally about language barriers.
The Microcredit Summit Campaign, an American non-profit organization, started as an effort to bring together microcredit practitioners, advocates, educational institutions, donor agencies, international financial institutions, non-governmental organizations and others involved with microcredit around the goal of alleviating world poverty through microfinance.
Korogocho is one of the largest slum neighbourhoods of Nairobi, Kenya. Home to 150,000 to 200,000 people pressed into 1.5 square kilometres, northeast of the city centre, Korogocho was founded as a shanty town on the then outskirts of the city.
Co-operative Bank of Kenya is a commercial bank in Kenya, the largest economy in the East African Community. It is licensed by the Central Bank of Kenya, the central bank and national banking regulator. The bank has introduced Agency banking model and has a deep customer base in Kenya with over 7.5 million accounts as of December 2018. In 2010, the bank was awarded "Best Bank of Kenya" by the London Financial Times due to their excellent growth.
Sidian Bank, formerly known as K-Rep Bank, is a commercial bank in Kenya, licensed by the Central Bank of Kenya, the national banking regulator.
Kingdom Bank Limited (Kenya), formerly Jamii Bora Bank, is a commercial bank in Kenya. It is one of the commercial banks licensed by the Central Bank of Kenya, the national banking regulator.
Microfinance in Kenya consists of microfinance facilities and regulations in Kenya which has been developing since the mid 1990s. Legislation was passed in 2006 with the Micro Finance Act which became active in 2008. By 2010 there were more than twenty large micro finance institutions in Kenya, which provided US $1.5 billion to approximately 1.5 million active borrowers. With over 100,000 clients, Equity Bank Kenya had the largest share of business loans representing market share of 73.50% followed by Kenya Women Microfinance Bank with 12.06%. Most microfinance firms as in other countries have eligibility criteria which may include gender, age, a valid Kenyan ID, a business, an ability to repay the loan and be a customer of the institution.
Jennifer Riria, is a Kenyan businesswoman, corporate executive, banker, and academic who serves as the group chief executive officer of Kenya Women Holding Group, a microfinance, banking and insurance group serving nearly one million mostly rural Kenyan women.
Choice Microfinance Bank, whose full name is Choice Microfinance Bank Kenya Limited or CMBKL, is a deposit-taking microfinance bank in Kenya, licensed by the Central Bank of Kenya, the national banking regulator.
References
- 1 2 Chris V. Nicholson (reporter) (July 9, 2007). "In Poorer Nations, Cellphones Help Open Up Microfinancing". New York Times . Retrieved 2011-09-17.
The value of mobile technologies has benefited microlenders, too. Jamii Bora, the largest microfinance institution in Kenya, has more than 150,000 borrowers. The organization, whose name means 'good families' in Swahili, began to experiment last year with mobile point-of-sale devices, magnetic-stripe cards and fingerprint authentication to take its remote branches online. 'This year we rolled it out over the whole country,” said Ingrid Munro, the founder and manager of Jamii Bora. “We have about 200 point-of-sale machines now, and we expect to expand.' ...
- ↑ Nicholas D. Kristof (September 14, 2011). "Sewing Her Way Out of Poverty". New York Times . Retrieved 2011-09-15.
Then in 1999, Jane joined an antipoverty organization called Jamii Bora, which means “good families” in Swahili. The group, founded by 50 street beggars with the help of a Swedish woman, Ingrid Munro, who still lives in Nairobi, became Kenya’s largest microfinance organization, with more than 300,000 members. But it also runs entrepreneurship training, a sobriety campaign to reduce alcoholism, and a housing program to help slum-dwellers move to the suburbs. ...