Kenya

In Kenya, an estimated 3 million poor families lack access to microfinance and other financial services.

• The life expectancy in Kenya is 53 years old
• More than Over 19 million Kenyans live on less than US $2.50/day
• Unemployment rate is approximately 40 percent
• Per capita income is US $680/year

We have worked with Yehu Microfinance Trust, and Small and Micro Enterprise Project (SMEP), as well as the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) to reach more of this country’s poor people, especially women.  We provided training in the latest small-business best practices for CBK and MFI staff, enabling them to streamline their processes and help more poor clients.

Kenya also was the first country in Africa to adopt Mifos, the specialized, open-source management information system that Grameen Foundation designed especially for microfinance institutions (and has now released to the open-source community). Jitegemea, a Kenyan MFI, has integrated Mifos into its business processes and is now automated, enabling them to spend more time serving poor communities and less time on administrative activities.