The Foundation supports microfinance institutions (MFIs) that provide strong social benefits for the poor, and it gives priority to countries that benefit least from international funding.

The Foundation gives priority support to MFIs that meet the following criteria:

• small or medium-scale MFIs that lack easy access to domestic or international sources of funding;
• MFIs with an agricultural and rural calling;

MFIs with a strong social mission:

• whose main objective is to fight against poverty and for the financial inclusion of the poorest – and mainly women;
• that conforms to strict ethical principles with regards to informing and protecting borrowers, the level of interest rates practiced, the methods of recovering loans and prevention of corruption.

These MFIs must at the same time have a viable business model and show good risk performances.

The Foundation uses the following criteria when choosing the countries in which it takes action:

• poor countries, with weak Human Development Indicators (HDI),
• countries with a weak rate of financial inclusion,
• countries still poorly served by international microfinance funds.

These countries are generally located in Africa, the Middle East, South Asia and Southeast Asia.

The Foundation has established systems that include all these criteria in its selection and analysis of MFI partners. It verifies via a field mission whether the MFIs meet these criteria.

More on the investment process…