UNCDF-Supported Microfinance Institution in Malawi Wins Prestigious CGAP Award
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21 March 2005: A UNCDF-supported Microfinance Institution in Malawi has been awarded with the one of the most prestigious awards in the industry – the CGAP 2004 Financial Transparency Award -- for complying with international disclosure guidelines, including industry-specific CGAP Disclosure Guidelines for Financial Reporting. Nearly 150 microfinance institutions committed to transparency from 48 countries applied for the award. Out of the 110 institutions who met the entry criteria, only 40 countries world-wide were accepted. Pride Malawi Co. Ltd. is among the four countries in sub-Saharan Africa, the others being K-REP of Kenya, Commercial Microfinance Limited of Uganda, and FINCA Uganda Limited. The award marks an important milestone in the development of the microfinance industry worldwide.
Pride Malawi is a member of the Pride Africa group, which has provided microfinance services to over 80,000 Africans since it began in 1989. PRIDE Malawi began operations in April 2000 with a $3 million grant from UNCDF. As PRIDE Malawi expanded and set up branches throughout the country, the institution followed sound microfinance practice and principles. Their success and high standards of operation had a catalytic effect on the overall microfinance sector in the country.
PRIDE Malawi (PM) started to operate as a UNCDF project in March 2000 with just under $3.5 m of which $1.4m was budgeted for loan fund capitalization. Pride Management Services in Kenya provided the technical assistance and staffing to implement the programme start up. On 9 May 2002, Pride Malawi, with assistance from UNCDF, acquired a legal status as a Company Limited by Guarantee.
Cornelius Majawa, PRIDE Malawi Finance and Administration Manager, said she and her colleagues at PRIDE are indeed proud to belong to the family of Microfinance institutions which are recognized to be paragons of transparency. “We are the first Malawian MFI to get such an award from such an acclaimed institution like CGAP,” she said. “We are still looking for investors and we have a burning desire to become a licensed microfinance deposit taking institution in Malawi. To attain that license, there is an urgent need to build capacity among our employees to meet this challenge, improve the infrastructure and above all restructure as a company.”
Majawa is appealing to all interested investors to “seriously consider PRIDE Malawi on their agenda for 2005/06. We are a young MFI with 53 employees and loan outstanding balance of US$1.6Million with loan recovery rates of 97%. Our major product remains a group loan and the average loan as percentage of GDP per capita is 174%.”
Links for more information:
CGAP: The Consultative Group to Assist the Poor
UNCDF contributes to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals in Least Developed Countries through a variety of innovative approaches in both local development and microfinance.
