FINCA was founded in 1984, only one year after Grameen Bank
(the brainchild of Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus), making it one of the oldest
microfinance institutions in the world. The organization was born from the notion
that a lack of collateral was the main obstacle preventing people with low
income from accessing credit. Allowing a group of borrowers to personally guarantee one
another in lieu of physical security was the cornerstone FINCA was founded on.
In 2001, FINCA Zambia opened its doors for the first time in
Lusaka. It arrived with the strength of 17 years experience and development backing
it up. A pioneer in the Zambian market, its model met the needs of local small
business people in new and innovative ways. Access to capital without
collateral enabled these people to grow and expand their operations. What’s
more, FINCA offered an approach targeted to their specific needs in a way large banks
were previously unable to. It wasn’t long before the enormous potential of
filling this gap was recognized by others and the microfinance market started
to boom. Currently, there are at least eight MFIs operating in Zambia, with
others looking to enter the market and traditional banks developing their own microbusiness departments. Offering Zambians access to traditionally inaccessible
financial services (going beyond just loans) is a thriving business right now,
and you will find the same holds true in many developing countries around the
world.
When we consider my experience with FINCA we’re talking
about a much smaller timeline of course. I’m coming up on my two month mark soon,
and it’s about time I explained what I’ve been doing. My first year in the
Junior Manager Program was designed to give me an inside-out understanding of
how FINCA Zambia’s operations work. Logically, the place to start was as a Loan
Officer; the front line and foundation of the whole organization. After a few
weeks of orientation, mentorship and training, I became a certified Business
(Individual) Loan Officer exactly one month ago. This means I find my own
clients, conduct analyses, disburse loans and manage a portfolio. There’s no
better way I could’ve built my understanding of this business than working at
its heart. I’ve learned a great deal about how businesses operate, and how to analyze
those operations within the specific context of the endemically informal Zambian
market. Each loan is a unique challenge with an intriguing story that must be
unraveled. I take great pride in tailoring the right loan for each client and
seeing them use it to improve their businesses. Since starting, I’ve taken on
ten clients in businesses ranging from groceries to butcheries to pie-making.
The loans have ranged from 600 to 2,000 USD and have been used for buying soft
drinks, rebuilding a roof, doubling pie production and buying chicken feed, to
name a few. My repayment rate is, as of now, perfect, but it we’ll see how it
fares over the next week as many of my first payments come due.
FINCA has brought many changes to my life here. I ride my bicycle
to work or take the bus. My office is deep in the bustling downtown area, nestled
between bus stations and markets. I work with an all Zambian staff, and most
conversations in my office don’t take place in English. This has really given
me the opportunity to improve my understanding of Nyanja (my starting point in
the list of 70+ local dialects). My coworkers are really supportive of my
efforts and go out of their way to help me learn, which is very encouraging.
All of these things have boosted my understanding of Zambia and given me a much
more acute sense of belonging. It’s a function of both the time I’ve spent here
and the new environments I’m in, but the result is I’m really enjoying where
this new year is taking me.
(Soweto Branch)
(Sikufele, my first client, at his grocery)
Side note: while it's not New England autumn foliage, our trees are putting on a pretty spectacular display of their own right now.
Mark, Good background on FINCA and micro financing. In what way does a "..group guarantee one another.."? Would you expect this micro finance model to work in lieu of US versions of welfare systems?
ReplyDeleteThanks Dad. In the "village banking" model pioneered by FINCA, clients take a loan as a group, divide the amount, then pay back their share to a pot on a regular basis. Because these clients might not have the physical collateral necessary to pledge as security for a loan at a regular bank, they agree to be the security for the other members of the group. This means if someone fails to pay their share, the others must pay for them. Ideally, that person pays back the others separately and overall the loan carries less risk for FINCA.
ReplyDeleteIn his book, Banker to the Poor, Yunus talks a bit about trying to bring microfinance to the US. Significantly, he points to the welfare system as offering a major disincentive for small scale entrepreneurial activity out of fear of losing the benefits. As an out and out replacement for welfare, Americans would likely pursue similar strategies to make money as Zambians, but if it's a question of which is better, that's hard to say. Microenterprises are a high-risk way to earn a living, especially if there are few social services offered by the government. I see them as, up to a certain level, more of a second-best solution required to make ends meet.