Prior to the COVID-19 crisis, many of Whole Planet Foundation’s microfinance partners were already investing in better internal systems and technology to manage their client portfolios. These partners have been the best positioned to manage their operations remotely, track how clients are being affected by COVID-19 restrictions and roll-out services …
Whole Planet Foundation has recently signed onto the Key Principles to Protect Microfinance Institutions and their Clients in the COVID-19 Crisis, supporting dialogue and collective action to help microfinance institutions support their clients in this difficult period. Similarly WPF has been following and is supportive of other similar efforts including …
ID Ghana is helping build strong foundations to help them weather tough times. This is a photo of a loan group called Unity Group made up of microentrepreneurs in the poor, northern Accra suburb of Pokuase served by Whole Planet Foundation’s Ghanaian microfinance partner ID Ghana. I visited this group …
In Ukraine, Whole Planet Foundation is helping local Credit Union Anisia to better serve very small rural enterprises with financing that adapts the successful group loan methodology used internationally, but rarely in Central and Eastern Europe. Anisia launched this new outreach strategy to Ukrainian entrepreneurs by partnering with an innovative …
Last month I went Cote D’Ivoire to visit WPF long-time microfinance partner PAMF, who administers group microloans to rural entrepreneurs and farmers. This visit allowed me to observe the initial roll-out of a new mobile phone-based platform that WPF provided grant funding to help build. The platform will allow anyone …
In Nigeria, where Whole Foods Market sources ginger, Whole Planet Foundation offers scale capital to the agriculture social enterprise Babban Gona. Babban Gona is working to make rural farming profitable for smallholder farmers in northern Nigeria. Their founder, Kola Masha, started the business to engage young Nigerians that have increasingly …
View the original English version of this blog post. Madeleine, la présidente d’un des groupes de microfinance de Yikri, au Burkina Faso, a souscrit avec succès un prêt pour financer une activité d’élevage. Cependant, en expliquant le changement que le programme Yikri a apporté à sa vie, elle se rappelle …
Noel (far right) borrows about $800 to stock her market stand in Senegal’s central Kaolack market- her current loan being her sixth one with the MFI CAURIE (Facebook) in Senegal. When asked where she had gotten her stock, (you can see her shelves are packed with items for sale) she …
View a French translation of this blog post. Madeleine, the President of one of Yikri Burkina Faso’s microfinance groups, has successfully taken business loans to support livestock rearing activities. However, when explaining the difference the Yikri program had made in her life, she first recounted not the impact of credit on …
Whole Planet Foundation’s Board of Directors has approved a grant to support the growth of an innovative business loan program in Egypt supporting widows and other female heads of households (FHHs) in rural communities of Upper Egypt. The program is designed to economically empower widows and FHHs by increasing their …
