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Rural Finance Project
Microfinance offers a range of financial services to the poorest members of local society, who tend to be afraid of debt and who have little or no collateral. In rural areas of the Gambia microfinance is handled mainly by institutions operating in the semi-formal market. They include:
Directly supervised by IFAD, the project will provide a broad range
of carefully targeted support to strengthen and consolidate existing
microfinance institutions to enable them to deliver financial services
to economically active rural poor people. Activities will include
training and technical assistance for developing new financial products
and for improving management of services. The project will strengthen
in-country technical service providers to improve the advisory and
business development services they offer to rural clients. The project
will also help establish an apex body to support village savings
and credit associations and provide funds for training at all levels.
It will enable local communities to access social and economic infrastructure
by linking up with projects offering matching grants, such as the
World Bank’s Community-Driven Development Project. Upon completion of the six-year project, it is anticipated that 180 rural branches of microfinance institutions and almost 3,000 GWFA groups will be delivering financial services such as savings, loans and insurance to about 180,000 rural clients, more than half of them women. The project will assist existing microfinance institutions to expand and complete geographical coverage of rural areas. Source: IFAD |
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