WWB has been empowering women around the world for more than 30 years. We have been able to do so through generous donations from individuals like you. Your donation can help a woman like Sylvia, who took her first loan of $600 from WWB’s affiliate Uganda Finance Trust twelve years ago. She used the loan to open Queen’s Hair Beauty Salon, which is today a successful business. Sylvia believes that she is helping African women by increasing their self-esteem and by providing a venue for women to come to together to bond and discuss business.

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On April 7, WWB’s network member Kenya Women Finance Trust (KWFT) was granted a license by the Central Bank of Kenya to become a deposit-taking microfinance organization. This is significant not just for KWFT but also for the Kenyan microfinance sector as it is only the second such license granted by the Central Bank.  Being able to take deposits will greatly affect the 334,000 poor women who are clients of KWFT, who will now have access to a range of saving products and a safe means to accumulate assets. 

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President Mwai Kibaki has challenged micro-finance institutions to reduce the cost of credit and expand their services to meet the growing needs of low-income earners. A vibrant micro-finance, which thrives on issuing tiny loans, the President said, would boost the country’s development.

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Nearly every country in Africa utilizes microfinance. Why, then, does the continent's microfinance sector show little development? This question was recently explored at the Diagnostic to Action: Microfinance in Africa Multi-Stakeholder Conference hosted by Women's World Banking and Africa Microfinance Action Forum (AMAF) in Nairobi, Kenya on June 4th.

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More coverage on the Microfinance in Africa Multi-Stakeholder Conference hosted by WWB and AMAF. Read full article: Kibaki pitches for funding small firms

Read the article "Kenya to Host International Conference on the Future of Microfinance in Africa" and listen to the interview with President and CEO, Mary Ellen Iskenderian.

MyKRO.org recently interviewed WWB’s Africa Relationship Manager, Mariama Ashcroft, about microfinance commercialization following her presentation on the subject at Nigeria´s 3rd Annual Microfinance Conference. She explains that formalization is a strategy that allows MFIs to expand access to financial services by fully integrating into the financial system. She emphasizes the need for this integration—demand for financial services among microentrepreneurs is far greater than supply.

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An article written by Mariama Ashcroft, WWB's Africa Relationship Manager, was featured in the MicroBanking Bulletin's December 2008, Issue 17. The article titled Microfinance in Africa: the Challenges, Realities and Success Stories is based on a study by WWB and AMAF- the Africa Microfinance Action Forum, a voluntary advocacy group of African leaders committed to the advancement of microfinance.

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With the implementation in May 2008 of the Microfinance Act of 2006, Kenya Women Finance Trust has become the first microfinance institution able to accept customer deposits in the country. Previous to this, it was prohibited by law for any microfinance institution there, other than a commercial bank, to take deposits from the general public. Now that they are able to take deposits, they are regulated and can provide a range of financial products for the people of Kenya.

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Kenya Women’s Finance Trust (KWFT), a WWB core network member, and Equity, a GNBI member, are featured in the article “Banking on African Women: Loan Guarantees and Private Partners Improve Access” in Africa Renewal’s January 2009 issue. Equity’s CEO James Mwangi discusses its partnership with the UN Development Programme (UNDP) which set up a fund for giving loans whose amounts are based on an evaluation of the client’s business cash flow specifically to women, and the success it has seen.

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