The component’s objectives will be achieved through a set of two sub components namely, Community based Support Innovation and Outreach Facility (IOF); and Support to Financial Organization (CBFO.) This section provides brief information about the partners of IOF and CBFO projects under implementation and those that are yet to commence their interventions upon finalization of the grant process.
Partners under this subcomponent are Financial Service Providers (FSPs) that are entering and expanding outreach in rural areas. Among the partners that have commenced implementation of the projects are NBS Bank; Community Savings and Credit Cooperative Society, FINCOOP Savings and Credit Cooperative Ltd. (FINCOOP SACCO; CUMO Microfinance; FDH Bank and FINCA Malawi. Vision Fund is expected to take off its project immediately after the grant is finalized. FDH Bank is expected to implement another project on research window whose grant process is yet to be completed.
Project Partner: NBS Bank
1. Project Title: ENHANCEMENT OF OUTREACH OF FORMAL FINANCIAL SERVICES IN RURAL AREAS
PARTNER’S PROFILE : NBS Bank Limited has a long history dating back to February 1964, emerging initially from the amalgamation of three distinct Building Societies, namely, Central African Building Society, Commonwealth Century Building Society, and First Building Society which created the predecessor company known as The New Building Society. This Society exclusively specialised on mortgages and was a monopoly provider at the time. However, following the liberalization of the financial sector in Malawi in 1989, the Society faced competition which necessitated the restructuring of the Society into a commercial bank, hence, the NBS Bank Limited. NBS Bank was therefore incorporated into a limited liability company in March 2003 and the Bank commenced its commercial Banking operations in July 2004.
ABOUT THE PROJECT: Through this project, NBS Bank works to improve presence of the Bank in rural areas through Bank Pafupi channel. The Bank is partnering with MSMEs operating in various trading centres in rural areas, as Bank Pafupi Agents, to offer banking services on behalf of the Bank. Of particular interest are locations where access to financial services is limited and people travel long distances to get to Service. Centres, which involves cost of travel as well as time spent for travel and waiting in queues.
PROJECT BENEFICIARIES: Opening of 1,000 Bank Pafupi Agents, 50,000 accounts, and 2,500 smallholder farmers to benefit from loans.
PROJECT AREA: Chitipa, Karonga, Rumphi, Nkhatabay, Mzimba, Kasungu, Dowa, Ntchisi, Mchinji, Lilongwe, Nkhotakota, Salima, Dedza, Ntcheu, Mangochi, Balaka, Machinga, Zomba, Chiradzulu, Thyolo, Mulanje, Phalombe, Blantyre, Chikwawa, Nsanje, Mwanza and Neno.
PROJECT PERIOD: 3 years (2019-2022)
PROJECT INTERVENTIONS:
- Recruitment of Agents.
- Cash deposit and withdrawal.
- Balance enquiry, mini statement.
- MFI loan repayment.
- Bill payment.
- Funds receiving and transferring from mobile money wallet.
- Loaning to smallholder farmers.
- Opening of individual and group accounts.
Project Partner: Community Savings and Credit Cooperative Society, Fincoop Savings and Credit Cooperative (FINCOOP SACCO)
2. Project Title: INCREASED ACCESS TO FINANCIAL SERVICES BY THE LOW INCOME RURAL COMMUNITIES THROUGH SAVINGS AND CREDIT METHODOLOGY
PARTNER’S PROFILE : Originally called Lilongwe City Community Savings and Credit Cooperative Society, FINCOOP Savings and Credit Cooperative Ltd. (FINCOOP
SACCO) targeted the self-employed people especially those engaged in micro and small enterprises in the low income urban areas of Malawi. FINCOOP is a member owned and democratically controlled financial cooperative society. This means they work for the members to provide exceptional service and rates to secure them towards financial independence. As a SACCO, currently spear-heading poverty alleviation in Malawi. They believe that everyone should have access to the financial services they need to lead a better quality of life by targeting farmers and small business owners among.
ABOUT THE PROJECT: FINCOOOP SACCO is implementing a project called Increased Access to Financial Services by the Low Income Rural Communities Through Savings and Credit Methodology with funding from FARMSE. It seeks to is help beneficiaries to accumulate savings for future financial needs and their economic activities growth and also helping beneficiaries access micro insurance which is one the key areas to be addressed under financial inclusion initiatives.
PROJECT BENEFICIARIES: Directly targeting 40,000 beneficiaries from 8,000 households. 5 members are targeted from each family. 40% women and 20% youth.
PROJECT AREA: Lilongwe, Dowa, Nkhatabay, Mzimba, Blantyre, Thyolo, and Mulanje.
PROJECT PERIOD: 3 years (2019-2022)
PROJECT INTERVENTIONS:
- Linking of Village Savings and Loans associations, Cooperatives and SMEs to FINCOOP SACCO.
Project Partner: CUMO Microfinance
3. Project Title: EXPANDING ACCESS TO TRAINING AND FINANCE (EXACT-FIN) PROJECT
PARTNER’S PROFILE : CUMO Microfinance is a non profit making microfinance company providing an integrated set of financial services (savings, credit and micro insurance) and market information services to the rural poor especially those in difficult to reach areas. It started its operations in 2000 as a project of Concern Universal before being incorporated as a Limited Microfinance institution in May, 2007. CUMO is headquartered in Dedza and is currently operating in all the districts of the country apart from Blantyre in the southern region and Chitipa, Karonga, Rumphi and Likoma in the northern region.
ABOUT THE PROJECT: The EXACT-FIN Project is aiming at upscaling CUMO’s pro-poor microfinance services through deepening of its reach in 18 existing districts, and
expanding reach to 6 new districts. This is achieved by supporting both agriculture and microenterprise as livelihood strategies among the heavily rain-fed agriculture dependent poor.
PROJECT BENEFICIARIES: 44,881 beneficiaries.
PROJECT AREA: 18 existing districts in 43 T/As; and in 6 new districts in 53 more T/As. The Deepening of Reach project is implemented in Dowa, Lilongwe Mchinji, Nkhotakota , Ntchisi , and Salima, Mwanza, Chikwawa, Chiradzulu, Machinga, Mangochi, Nsanje, Thyolo, and Zomba, Mzimba and Nkata-bay districts. On the other hand, the Expansion of reach is covering Blantyre, Kasungu, Mwanza, Neno, Nkhatabay and Mzimba.
PROJECT PERIOD: 3 years (2019-2022)
PROJECT INTERVENTIONS:
- Village savings
- Extension of Innovative micro-loans
- Insurance
- Business skills
Project Partner: FDH Bank Limited
4. Project Title: DIGITALISATION OF RURAL TRANSACTIONS THROUGH DIGITAL BANKING PLATFORMS
PARTNER’S PROFILE : FDH Financial Holdings Limited (FDHFHL) is a diversified investments and financial solutions centre with interests in Banking, Discount House Operations, Forex Bureau operations, as well as Investment Management and Advisory Services. FDHFHL was established in November 2007 as part of the group restructuring to replace First Discount House Limited (FDH), as the holding company of the FDHFHL Group. FDH was incorporated in accordance with the Companies Act in March 2000 and commenced operations in April 2002 through a partnership that included a local businessman, Press Corporation Limited, Old Mutual Life Assurance (Malawi) Limited and Kingdom Financial Holdings Limited of Zimbabwe. Licence by Reserve Bank of Malawi was granted in October 2009 to operate as professional investment advisors in Malawi. The scope of the advisory work ranges from advisory on investment portfolio management, capital raising structures such as bond issuance, commercial paper structuring and issuance, loan syndication, Due diligence, Corporate valuations, Public and Private equity Placements as well as Initial Public Offer (IPO) lead advisory services among others. In July 2015, FDH Financial Holdings Limited acquired 75% ownership of Government owned Malawi Savings Bank together with its subsidiary MSB Forex Bureau Limited. One year later, in 2016 FDH Financial Holdings Limited completed the merger of FDH Bank Limited and Malawi Savings Bank Limited (MSB) into the merged bank called FDH Bank Limited. The merger of the two Banks also resulted in the merger of FDH Money Bureau Limited and MSB Forex Bureau Limited. The merged Bureau de Change is FDH Money Bureau Limited.
ABOUT THE PROJECT: FDH Bank is implementing the Digitalization of Rural Transactions Through Digital Banking Platforms project through digital solutions that
leverage on the Bank’s advanced banking technology, wide presence and branchless banking to offer a complete turnkey digital transaction model.
PROJECT BENEFICIARIES: 290,600 beneficiaries
PROJECT AREA: Mangochi, Lilongwe rural and Mulanje.
PROJECT PERIOD: 3 years (2019-2022)
PROJECT INTERVENTIONS:
- Ufulu Digital Account: The Bank is providing an ecosystem that is used by the
rural Malawians that are in the marginalised locations for making any routine
payments electronically directly to their phone numbers (e-value creation)
through Ufulu Digital Accounts. Rural Clients are opening their own Ufulu Digital
account and transact from through mobile phone. - Agency Banking (Banki Pakhomo): This intervention solves the connectivity
and long distance challenges in the rural areas by recruiting agents for
trasactions to be done right in the villages. - Smart Pay: This is a merchant payment solution where payments can be made
electronically through a mobile phone.
Project Partner: Vision Fund
5. Project Title: ACCELERATED RURAL FINANCIAL INCLUSION IN MALAWI (ARFIM)
PARTNER’S PROFILE : Vision Fund Malawi is a leading microfinance institution established in 2000 as a subsidiary of Vision Fund International, a global microfinance
institution operating in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe. Vision Fund Malawi provides microfinance services to Malawians who would otherwise have little or no access to credit and training in business related areas.
ABOUT THE PROJECT: Upon finalization of the grant process, Vision Fund Malawi is expected to implement the project titled “Accelerated Rural Financial Inclusion in Malawi (ARFIM)” in partnership with World Vision Malawi and Opportunity Transformations Services (OTS). The project’s objective is to promote rural financial inclusion by increasing access to financial services (credit, savings and insurance and digital channels) in the rural areas, targeting small holder farmers, other entrepreneurs, women and youth.
PROJECT BENEFICIARIES: 30,000 beneficiaries in the ratio of 2:1 for women and men respectively, and 33% of the total being youth. 10,000 rural clients are targeted with financial education.
PROJECT AREA: 14 districts of Mzimba, Kasungu, Ntchisi, Dedza, Salima, Nkhotakota, Mchinji, Machinga, Zomba, Mwanza, Mulanje, Thyolo, Karonga and Chitipa.
PROJECT PERIOD: 3 years (2019-2022)
KEY ACTIVITIES:
- Provision of inputs and asset finance to smallholders to enhance productivity in the value chains.
- Provision of loans to selected value chain players to increase service delivery capacity and diversified household income.
- Promotion of innovative Micro-insurance to scale up rural farmer resilience to climate shocks.
- Respond to gender inequalities by supporting women with access to income for economic empowerment.
- Expand outreach to rural clients especially smallholder farmers through establishment of 2 new branches in Karonga and Chitipa Districts.
- Contribute to the beneficiary financial capacity through the delivery of financial education.
- Develop the mobile banking platform to provide clients with access to innovative digital credit and savings services.
EXPECTED OUTCOMES:
- Increased access to financial services for 30,000 rural clients including small holder farmers, other entrepreneurs, women and youth.
- Improved appropriate utilization of financial Services through the delivery of financial education to 10,000 target rural clients.
Project Partner: FINCA Malawi
6. Project Title: MOVING THE NEEDLE ON RURAL FINANCIAL INCLUSION IN MALAWI
PARTNER’S PROFILE : FINCA Malawi Limited was established in 1994 and is affiliated to FINCA International. It is a leading provider of financial services to low income individuals. FINCA obtained a deposit taking licence from the Reserve Bank of Malawi in 2015 and currently operates in all 28 districts in Malawi serving mostly rural customers through 89 outlets countrywide. Over the years FINCA has steadily expanded its financial services and has now grown into a full service microfinance institution serving over 40,000 clients, 63% of whom are women and 70% rural. FINCA offers savings loans credit life insurance, money transfers and remittances, mobile banking and agency banking. FINCA offers Village Banking, Individual Lending and Small Group Loans across the country, targeting Malawi’s working poor families so they can create their own jobs, raise household incomes and improve their standard of living.
ABOUT THE PROJECT: FINCA works to increase access to financial services in the underserved rural communities through scaling up its agent network to areas where FINCA is constrained to reach. The project objective is to contribute towards improved livelihood and reduced vulnerability of 60,000 low- income households and small holder farmers and small scale business people through sustainable micro- financial services that will enable them to access financial services to increase their productivity in areas of farming and entrepreneurship.
PROJECT BENEFICIARIES: 60,000 new rural clients will benefit from the project through the services of 105 new agents. 200,000 rural Malawians will be reached with financial
education.
PROJECT AREA: Chitipa, Karonga, Rumphi, Mzimba, Nkhata bay, Kasungu, Nkhotakota, Mchinji, Ntchisi, Lilongwe, Salima, Dowa, Dedza, Ntcheu, Blantyre, Chiradzulu, Thyolo, Mulanje, Mangochi, Machinga, Phalombe, Neno, Chikwawa and Mwanza.
PROJECT PERIOD: 3 years (2019-2022)
KEY ACTIVITIES:
• Awareness meetings with local authorities
• Awareness meetings in financial services
• Identification and recruitment of Agents
• Capacity building for fields officers and local agents in targeted areas
• Opening of accounts
• Training in financial services
• Registration of savings accounts on mobile banking system for digital financing
• Provision of financial literacy and other trainings to the registered groups and
individuals
• Creation of loan fund to be accessed by targeted beneficiaries of the project
• Monitoring of loan repayments and enterprising activities
• Women and youth economic empowerment awareness meetings
• Provisions of business management trainings
• Review meeting