MicroLoan Foundation
Increasing access to microcredit across Africa
The MicroLoan Foundation (MLF) is a UK based charity that provides small loans, basic business training and ongoing mentoring support to poor women in sub-Saharan Africa. This enables the women to develop sustainable livelihoods in order to feed, clothe and educate their families, and work their own way out of the poverty trap.
MLF’s client groups are predominantly from poor rural areas, where education levels are often low. They often lack the knowledge to start their own businesses and most have had little or no access to credit in any form. MLF provides individuals with the expertise and training to build a business plan, working with groups of people at a time to help ensure that individuals can support and encourage one another as well as providing assistance to each other if things go wrong.
Funding from the Anglo American Group Foundation will enable MLF to extend its services to Namibia, with plans to establish a new rural microcredit programme primarily aimed at the subsistence farmers who constitute around half of Namibia's population. These farmers typically face difficulty in accessing (usually urban-based) credit facilities.
The rural microfinance programme provides small loans, business training and mentoring support to enable women in rural communities to increase their income. MLF plans to establish low-cost regional branches with low overhead costs. The small average size of the loans will provide a further means to keep down costs and enable the programme to operate in rural areas.
To find out more please visit www.microloanfoundation.org.uk/
Registered charity number: 1104287
