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.
LAPO is a Nigerian organisation with a microfinance bank dedicated to self-employment through microfinance and an NGO, a non-governmental, non-profit community development organization focused on the empowerment of the poor and the vulnerable.
Micro financing in Tanzania started in 1995 with SACCOS and NGOs. It has since then contributed to the increasing success of international micro financing. Microfinance stills remains a relatively new in Tanzania since it has not penetrated yet. Since 1995, microfinance has been linked to poverty alleviation programs and women. The government made efforts to ensure commercial banks have continued to provide financial support to the small entrepreneurial business. However a microfinance National Policy was implemented in 2002 to encourage and support microfinances in the country. Since the implementation, micro financing was officially launched and recognized as a poverty alleviation tool. Due to its increase exposure and use in the nation, commercial banks have developed interests in to offer microfinance. There are various microfinance banks that functions as supporting institutions in the country that usually provide microfinance services. These may include the CRDB, National Microfinance Bank, and AKIBA. However there are also other few banks that are concerned with micro financing in Tanzania such as the PRIDE and SEDA, Tanzania Postal Bank and FINCA. Community and small banks have also expressed interest in the same including the NGOs and other non-profit organizations.
ACLEDA Bank Plc. is a public limited company, formed under the Banking and Financial Institutions Law of the Kingdom of Cambodia. Based in Phnom Penh, with 261 offices covering all provinces, as well as 42 in Laos, and seven in Myanmar. ACLEDA started out in 1993 when it began providing micro credits to war victims. By now it is Cambodia's major commercial bank. ACLEDA had more than $5,244 million in total assets as of December 31, 2017, and more than $3,117 million in deposits, with over $3,085 million in loans outstanding. According to the National Bank of Cambodia, ACLEDA Bank is the largest domestic commercial bank in terms of total assets and number of clients, with more than 1.7 million depositors as of December 31, 2017.
Bharat Financial Inclusion Limited or BFIL is a banking & finance company (NBFC), licensed by the Reserve Bank of India. It was founded in 1997 by Vikram Akula, who served as its executive chair until working. The company's mission is to provide financial services to the poor under the premise that providing financial service to poor borrowers helps to alleviate poverty. In 2011, the company operated across 11 Indian state.
Before Uganda's independence in 1962, the main banks in Uganda were Barclays ; Grindlays, Standard Bank and the Bank of Baroda from India. The currency was issued by the East African Currency Board, a London-based body. In 1966, the Bank of Uganda (BoU), which controlled the issue of currency and managed foreign exchange reserves, became the central bank and national banking regulator. The government-owned Uganda Commercial Bank and the Uganda Development Bank were launched in the 1960s. The Uganda Development Bank is a state-owned development finance institution, which channeled loans from international sources into Ugandan enterprises and administered most of the development loans made to Uganda.
Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC) is a company registered under the Companies Act, 1956 of India, engaged in the business of loans and advances, acquisition of shares, stock, bonds, hire-purchase insurance business or chit-fund business, but does not include any institution whose principle business is that of agriculture, industrial activity, purchase or sale of any goods or providing any services and sale/purchase/construction of immovable property.
Equity Bank Uganda Limited (EBUL), is a commercial bank in Uganda. It is licensed by the Bank of Uganda, the central bank and national banking regulator. EBUL is a subsidiary of Equity Group Holdings Limited, a financial service conglomerate with headquarters in Kenya and subsidiaries in six countries of the African Great Lakes Region.
Pride Microfinance Limited (PMFL), is a microfinance deposit-taking institution (MDI) in Uganda. It is licensed by the Bank of Uganda, the central bank and national banking regulator.
Consolidated Bank of Kenya commonly known as Consolidated Bank, is a commercial bank in Nairobi, Kenya, East Africa's largest economy. It is licensed by the Central Bank of Kenya.
FINCA Uganda Limited, also known as FINCA Uganda, is a microfinance deposit-accepting institution (MDI) in Uganda. It is licensed and regulated by the Bank of Uganda, the central bank and national banking regulator.
Chase Bank Kenya Limited(CBK), commonly referred to as Chase Bank, was a commercial bank in Kenya, licensed by the Central Bank of Kenya, the central bank and national banking regulator.
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.
UGAFODE Microfinance Limited, commonly known as UGAFODE, is a microfinance institution in Uganda. It is registered and licensed as microfinance deposit-accepting institution (MDI) by the Bank of Uganda, the central bank and national banking regulator. UGAFODE was the fourth MDI registered in Uganda.
Faulu Microfinance Bank Limited, commonly referred to as Faulu Kenya, is a microfinance bank based in Kenya. It is regulated by the Central Bank of Kenya. The word Faulu is Swahili for succeed.
Bandhan Bank Ltd. is a banking and financial services company, headquartered in Kolkata. Bandhan Bank is present in 35 out of 36 states and union territories of India, with 6,140 banking outlets and 3.07 crore customers. Having received the universal banking licence from the Reserve Bank of India, Bandhan Bank started operations on August 23, 2015, with 501 branches, 50 ATMs and 2,022 Banking Units (BUs). The Bank has mobilised deposits of ₹1,08,479 crore and its total advances stand at ₹1,03,168 crore as of June 30, 2023.
Kenya Women Microfinance Bank, formerly Kenya Women Finance Trust or KWFT, is a deposit-taking microfinance bank in Kenya, the largest economy in the East African Community.
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.
EFC Uganda Limited (EFCUL), also known as EFC Uganda, is a microfinance deposit-taking institution (MDI) in Uganda whose license was withdrawn and liquidated by Bank of Uganda on 19 January 2024.
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.
KES 552.5 million (2014)
KES: -97.02 million (2014)
