Small loans are made to groups of women
The MicroLoan Foundation was founded by British businessman Peter Ryan, who is now the charity’s CEO, and made its first loan in Malawi in 2002. It has grown rapidly: it now operates across Malawi, Namibia and Zambia where it helps almost 30,000 women and their families per year. Since the charity began over 110,000 women and up to 550,000 children have benfitted from its work. The initial loan capital and establishment costs for each new operational MLF branch are financed by donations from people and organisations in the UK, USA and Australia, as well as donor agencies based in Africa. An appropriate rate of interest on the loans is charged which enables the charity to cover its local operating costs and make its work financially sustainable. The training and mentoring support provided helps women to establish sucessful businesses.
In 2011 MLF has 23 branches (distributing almost 60,000 loans per annum) and a major training centre in Africa, which enables the charity’s specialist division ‘MicroVentures’ to provde specialist training programmes such as those in farming and irrigation, tailoring and renewable energy. These provide women with an opportunity develop long term, value added, sustainable businesses and help them employ other people. In 2009 the charity began working in Zambia where it has a growing network of three branches, working towards replicating the national model of 20 branches that it has in Malawi. MLF maintains a 99% loan repayment rate and has a ground-breaking Social Performance Management programme which measures the social impact of the work and uses the data to actively improve the services provided.
The MicroLoan Foundation offers a hand up not a hand out. When the women repay their microloans the charity recycles them to help more women. This process is continued year after year.
