MicroLoan Foundation Malawi

The MicroLoan Foundation is a UK-based microfinance charity providing small loans, business training, and continuing guidance to groups of women in sub-Saharan Africa. Established in 2002, the MicroLoan Foundation now has seventeen offices in Malawi and currently lends to 711 women's groups.

In 2008 they made 23,000 loans, more than tripling our operations. During 2009, they are focused on continued implementation of an expansion programme across the country and, by year-end, we expect to have made 37,000 loans and have over 16,000 clients.

Borrowers are organised into groups of on average 15 to 18 people, with each member running their own project but benefiting from the support of all the other members in the group.

The women who receive the loans use the money to start a wide range of businesses, including vegetable farming, fish selling, making clothes and running cafes.

The names chosen by the groups tend to reflect their motivation and enthusiasm, for example:

Tigwirizane (We be united)
Kanthunkhama (Everything goes with hard work)
Tithandizane (We should help each other)
Tiyambenawo (We also want to start)
Titsasalire (We don't want to be left behind)
Chiyembekezo (Hope)
Patsogolo (Forward)

A key aim of the MicroLoan Foundation is to enable families to become self-sufficient by financing and helping them to launch small business projects. Typical loans enable families to buy goods in bulk to re-sell in the local market at a small profit.

Just a modest increase in financial resources from money generated through a small business can improve a family's food security and support their children's education. Microcredit results in asset creation, employment generation and economic security.

Aisha Lumbili, who has a family of 6, used to own a small grocery business. She struggled to make a living and to find money for farming each season. Since joining the MicroLoan Foundation, Aisha has not let the fact that she has no secondary education stop her, and she is now one of the most successful clients in the area!

She enjoys being able to fund her husband's farming and still have enough money to make repayments and fulfil household needs.

Aisha is now taking a Bridging loan from the MicroLoan Foundation, which is enabling her to expand her business more rapidly. She uses it to run her large and busy grocery shop in Santhe market. When asked how the MicroLoan Foundation has affected her quality of life she said excitedly ‘We have no hardships now! I have electricity in my house!’

"Microloan is such an obvious and important concept it beggars belief it was not conceived of earlier. It has also proved an outstanding success. I urge you to support the MicroLoan Foundation and help Africa on its way to independent pluralist prosperity."

Bob Geldof

To find out more about MicroLoan Foundation's amazing work please click here

Registered UK charity no. 1104287