Project profile — Economic Growth Through Access to Financial Services

• Panama (9.00%)
• Colombia (2.00%)
• Tanzania (11.00%)
• Paraguay (2.00%)
• Peru (3.00%)
• Honduras (3.00%)
• Sri Lanka (3.00%)
• Mali (10.00%)
• Bolivia (3.00%)
• Zambia (3.00%)
• Vietnam (7.00%)
• Indonesia (1.00%)
• Malawi (1.00%)
• Senegal (8.00%)
• Benin (4.00%)
• Uganda (12.00%)
• Togolese Republic (5.00%)
• Philippines (4.00%)
• Burkina Faso (9.00%)

• Banking And Financial Services: Informal/semi-formal financial intermediaries (24040) (50.00%)
• Agriculture: Agricultural financial services (31193) (20.00%)
• Industry: Small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) development (32130) (30.00%)

• Gender equality (significant objective)
• Environmental sustainability (cross-cutting) (not targeted)
• Participatory development and good governance (significant objective)
• Trade development (not targeted)
• Biodiversity (not targeted)
• Climate change mitigation (not targeted)
• Climate Change Adaptation (not targeted)
• Urban issues (not targeted)
• Desertification (not targeted)
• Children's issues (not targeted)
• Youth Issues (not targeted)
• Indigenous Issues (not targeted)
• Disability (not targeted)
• ICT as a tool for development (not targeted)

This program aims to contribute to economic growth and improved socio-economic conditions for disadvantaged populations. Working in 19 countries, the project focuses on three priorities: (1) improving the range of financial services and the distribution networks of micro-finance institutions; (2) improving the governance of microfinance institutions; and (3) developing dialogue and inter-cooperation among these institutions. Some of the activities include: (1) supporting the creation of financial centers for entrepreneurs; (2) developing agricultural loans, mortgage and micro-insurance; (3) improving the management and services offered to clients; and (4) organizing regional and international seminars to share best practices in micro-finance. In targeting these areas of activity, the project seeks to increase the accessibility and quality of financial services offered to disadvantaged populations, build a professional staff, improve management systems and promote the sharing of best practices. The expected intermediate outcomes for this project include: (1) local financial institutions offer their members and clients diversified, accessible, quality financial services; (2) financial institutions are administered by managers and employees who are qualified and competent, adopt best management and governance practices, and show concern for their clientele; and (3) local financial institutions are developed through solidarity and mutual cooperation.

N/A

Results achieved by the time the project ended in May 2015 include the following: (1) two financial centres for entrepreneurs were set up as part of the project, and the four financial centres for entrepreneurs supported at the end of the project had a total of 30,364 clients (36% of whom were women), while their outstanding credit portfolio exceeded $58 million and savings reached $12.4 million; (2) health insurance initiatives reached nearly 32,000 insured persons, the majority of them women (54%), compared with 4,000 insured persons when the project began, while more than 42,000 people (38% of them women) had agricultural insurance, compared with 80 people when the project began; (3) 2,744 additional women are now employed by one of the project’s partner financial institutions, meaning 6,076 women were employed at the end of the program compared with 3,332 when the project began; (4) the percentage of women leaders rose from 26.6% to 29.6% over the course of the project, and the percentage of employed women rose from 47.5% to 48.6%; (5) the visibility of Proxfin’s partners increased over the course of the project (105 references in specialized publications and on specialized sites by the end of the project, compared with fewer than 10 when the project began); and (6) member networks are sharing what they have learned and their best practices. This project helped to improve the quality, diversity and accessibility of the financial services offered to members of partner institutions and helped to improve their socio-economic status.

• Proactive disclosure