MFIs: Big Impact Big Changes,

Even as MFIs are fueling economic growth for the underprivileged, what is interesting is that they are transforming themselves in areas like HR, technology, funding, leadership, collections, and more. Banking Frontiers presents the initiatives and initiatives at 9 such organizations:

Empowering MFIs; Bridging the Funding Gap

Agora Microfinance CEO Tanmay Chetan shares the company's purpose and explains how the company is navigating the space:

Smriti Pandey: Please share some insights into your recent investments in the microfinance sector in terms of organizations, their size, their age, their country of operations, etc.

Tanmay Chetan: In the past year, Agora has made continued equity investments into our subsidiary retail operations in Zambia and India, in addition to creating 2 new entities in Botswana and South Africa. Altogether, our retail operations reach in excess of 175,000 clients and manage total assets of around $25 million. Aside from that, we also make debt investments into financial inclusion in Africa and Asia, in which our current portfolio of $15 million is spread across 6 countries and 7 institutions. Generally speaking, all our investees are engaged in livelihood and/or SME financing and have a strong focus on financial inclusion for the lessbanked. These include both early-stage institutions as well as market leaders. Our overall reach through 2 financing streams currently extends to India, Zambia, Botswana, South Africa, Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria and Cambodia.