IFAD makes US$25.04 million loan to Mali to consolidate microfinance services for poor rural people

Rome, 1 December 2009 – A US$25.04 million loan from IFAD to the Republic of Mali will fund an innovative  programme to build on the strengths and successes of existing rural microfinance networks to help them expand their reach and ensure their sustainability over time. 

The Rural Microfinance Programme will support three networks created during the implementation of IFAD-supported projects, which have now grown to comprise some 94 credit unions. It will help restructure the networks where needed and identify new products to meet the needs of poor rural people, in particular women and young people.

The loan agreement for the programme was signed in Rome on 20 November by Gaoussou Drabo, the Ambassador of Mali to Italy, and Kanayo F. Nwanze, President of IFAD.

The principal objective of the programme is to provide poor rural people with easier and sustainable access to tailored financial services and to  build the capacity of the rural microfinance networks to achieve sustainability.

The programme is expected to benefit rural households needing credit, producers' organizations seeking to ensure services to their members, and woman and young people who need to finance income-generating activities.

Innovative features of the programme include linking microfinance institutions to Mali's banking system and promoting a move from non-paid to professional staff at these institutions.
To date, IFAD has funded 11 projects in Mali for a total investment of  around $154 million.

Press release No.: IFAD/63/09

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) works with poor rural people to enable them to grow and sell more food, increase their incomes and determine the direction of their own lives. Since 1978, IFAD has invested over US$11 billion in grants and low-interest loans to developing countries, empowering some 350 million people to break out of poverty. IFAD is an international financial institution and a specialized UN agency based in Rome – the UN's food and agricultural hub. It is a unique partnership of 165 members from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), other developing countries and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).