Countries
Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda

Local Project Partners
Burundi: RIM
Kenya: ACCOSCA, AMFI, SASRA
Rwanda: AMIR, RICEM, NCCR
Tanzania: SCCULT, SELF MF, TAMFI, TCDC
Uganda: AMFIU, UCUSCU

German Project Partner
SVBW,
SPK Heidelberg,
KSK Tübingen,
KSK Reutlingen,
SPK Ulm

Donor
German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)

Duration
01.10.2019 - 30.09.2024

The overall objective of the project is to contribute to lasting, inclusive and sustainable economic growth. Rural development in the region is to be promoted by strengthening the microfinance sector institutions operating throughout the region.

The strengthening of existing MFIs (microfinance institutions) and SACCOs (savings and credit cooperatives), the expansion of the services offered by MFIs/SACCOs to their clients, the increasing digitization of the microfinance sector, and the strengthening of the sustainability of umbrella organizations of MFIs/SACCOs will be achieved through the following outcomes:

1. the MFIs/SACCOs in Eastern Africa organized in the partner associations are strengthened.
2. the services offered by the MFIs/SACCOs in eastern Africa organized in the partner institutions have been expanded in line with the needs of the (mainly rural) population.
3. the MFIs/SACCOs organized in the partner institutions are increasingly participating in digitization.
4. the meso-level institutions of the microfinance sector participating in the project are technically and economically more sustainable.

The measures of this regional project are closely dovetailed with the measures of the parallel regional project on vocational and commercial training. The dovetailing ensures: firstly, that structures, processes and products are made available to clients/members in a sustainable manner by MFIs/SACCOs with a stable institutional set-up; secondly that simultaneously targeted training measures are carried out for the final beneficiaries (demand side of the microfinance sector) as well as for the employees of the MFIs/SACCOs (supply side of the microfinance sector).

Project Tasks

To achieve the results, different consulting activities are planned in cooperation with the partner institutions, e.g.:

• The necessary adjustment and restructuring processes of the associations, but also of the entire microfinance/ SACCO sector.
• The establishment of new financial institutions; partly through mergers of already existing, smaller units and partly through start-ups
• The fundamental optimization of (also IT-supported) business processes as well as of organizational structures of financial institutions
• The introduction or improvement of digital solutions (core banking systems, interfaces to management information systems, credit bureaus, performance monitoring tools, payment transaction systems, mobile money networks)
• The introduction and improvement of existing refinancing facilities for the microfinance sector
• Advising associations on the establishment or expansion of a "shared service" portfolio for member institutions
• The development of new products for microfinance clients and the creation of new (digital) channels.