Microfinance is an approach to economic development that provides the entrepreneurial poor with access to very small loans, generally between $50 to $200, that are used to run “microbusinesses.” These loans are given in spite of the fact that microfinance clients do not have anything to put up as collateral and are often illiterate and might come from societal groups that face systematic discrimination in the formal economy. The profit from these businesses often represents the only source of income for people who are on the edge of absolute poverty and desperation. Microfinance ministers to the self esteem and confidence of the people who receive the loans. The clients of WHI's microfinance institutions (MFIs) are treated as business partners rather than charity beneficiaries, and this translates into an incentive to succeed. In 2008 WHI was very successful with its MFIs and has sought to include other unique functions, such as the MicroCapital Fund (MicroCap), with its innovative programs..

Cambodia Rural Economic Development Initiative for Transformation (CREDIT) - Cambodia

CREDIT is a large and very successful MFI in Cambodia that continues to grow quickly. CREDIT gives significantly larger loans than WHI’s other MFIs and its loan portfolio is vastly larger. CREDIT is also extremely profitable. It made almost $1.5 million in operating profit in 2008, which was all pumped back into its loan portfolio as internally generated equity to be used for more client loans. WHI is one of the three shareholders of CREDIT, along with World Relief and World Relief Canada.  Read more.

Shrouk - Egypt
WHI is continuing the initial work to establish an MFI in Assuit, Egypt, which is a city of about two million people (at least 30% of whom are Coptic Christians). Shrouk has made significant progress but faces a challenging regulatory regime in Egypt. WHI will be the first International NGO to work in microfinance in Assuit and is expected to dramatically redefine the credit market in all of Upper Egypt in a way that will empower the poor. It is expected that WHI will be legally registered in Egypt in spring 2009 and will then be able to commence building the program infrastructure and begin operations. Read more

Harapan Sejahtera Micro (HS-Micro) - Indonesia
Building on the start-up work that WHI did in 2007 to create a new MFI in Indonesia, HS-Micro grew rapidly in 2008. It has received extensive technical support from WHI along with small amounts of grant funding.  Read more

Local Enterprise Assistance Program (LEAP) - Liberia
In 2005, WHI led a successful rehabilitation program for LEAP (that also involved World Relief and World Relief Canada)
to save it from complete collapse after the catastrophic events of the Liberian civil war. LEAP is now the largest MFI in Liberia
and has won the most international recognition out of all of WHI’s MFIs, simply because of the sheer poverty and the difficult socio-political environment of Liberia. One of LEAP’s client’s was awarded a “Global Microentrepreneurship Award,” which was presented at the United Nation’s headquarters in New York. WHI decisively addressed a few technical and managerial problems in early 2008 with the appointment of a new Executive Director who has led a breathtaking transformation. As the table below shows, LEAP’s portfolio at risk (PAR) has been reduced from 13% in June 2008 to 5% in December 2008 and LEAP has finally achieved profitability. Read more

Hope Micro - Sierra Leone

Hope Micro is an integral component of Sierra Leone’s business development infrastructure. It is the largest MFI in the country and it has more than twice the number of clients than the combined total of all of Sierra Leone’s commercial banks. Hope Micro has received substantial funding and accommodation from the United Nations and other international organizations. In February 2008, Hope Micro received a MicroCap loan for $150,000 and it has faithfully made every monthly payment for that loan. Hope Micro is eligible for another loan from the MicroCap in early 2009, for as much as $225,000. An interesting aspect of Hope Micro’s recent growth is that it has found the greatest demand from the lowest segments of the market, the smallest sizes of loans. Read more

The MicroCapital Fund
The MicroCap is an innovative approach by which WHI seeks to fund MFIs around the world. It is a global fund that is registered as a separate limited liability company (LLC), wholly owned by WHI. The MicroCap lends large blocks of funds (between $50,000 and $500,000) to MFIs with the central idea that MFIs do not need grants to finance their activities in the long run. In fact, MFI managers make much better decisions on the use of financial resources when they are working with borrowed capital rather than grants. Once an MFI has established a proven ability to handle debt it can access much larger amounts of funds (from the MicroCap and other international and local lenders). Given the scarcity of grant funding, MFIs ultimately have to make the transition to debt if they are to truly meet the demand for their micro loan products and achieve sufficient scale for their own long run sustainability. Read more