Kenya has been key to Grameen Foundation's work in East Africa since 2010. We initially worked with microfinance institutions to improve their operational transparency and efficiency using an open-source management information system we developed, and invested in small, promising microfinance institutions.
Over the last decade, Kenya has become a hub of African technology innovation. The country’s vibrant mobile money system has expanded financial inclusion for millions. Nonetheless, Kenya’s smallholder farmers still have a hard time getting a loan or participating in the formal financial system, and 42 percent of the population lives below the poverty line.
Our current work taps the widespread availability of mobile phones to help poor households get better access to financial services and the information small-scale farmers needed to improve their productivity and incomes.
Today we are working with Musoni, the country’s first all-digital microfinance institution. Together, we developed one of the country’s first agricultural loans specifically for smallholder farmers. We are now scaling that loan to reach tens of thousands of farmers, and utilizing data to drive more efficient operations and growth by the MFI.