Welcome to Women's Microfinance Initiative

WMI's mission is to establish village-level loan hubs, administered by local women, to provide capital, training and support services to rural women in the lowest income brackets in East Africa so that they can engage in income producing activities.

How It Works! - The WMI Loan Program Overview




WMI celebrates 10th anniversary with new video by Local Director, Olive Wolimbwa, discussing WMI's 10 year impact.

WMI ANNUAL REPORT WMI 2017 Annual Report
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WMI Timeline - How Loans Work HOW WMI LOANS WORK
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2014 Combined Federal Giving Campaign2017 Combined Federal Giving Campaign
WMI is a participating member of CFC. We welcome your contributions! WMI's CFC number is 40340.

Goal: Buyobo Girl Thanking WMI WMI's goal is to help women build assets so that they can stabilize their income, raise their standard of living and reorient themselves and their families. WMI's small loans bring big changes to impoverished women, who use the money to build small businesses. With pro bono legal assistance from the law firm of Baker & McKenzie in New York, WMI issued its first microloans in January 2008. By year end 2017, it had issued 40,000 loans totaling $5 million to women in more than 1,500 villages. WMI has developed a unique economic model to transition women to institutional banking and the formal economy in 24-months. Loan funds are recycled so that the program becomes self-sustaining. WMI is making financial inclusion a reality for village women in East Africa.

A DOZEN LOAN PROGRAM ESSENTIALS...

  1. 10 year operating history in rural East Africa - approximately 98% repayment rate.
  2. Over 40,000 business loans issued; over $5,000,000 lent.
  3. Currently on track to issue 10,000 loans per year to rural women in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania.
  4. Loan hubs managed by and for rural women through their own registered women's groups.
  5. Loan Program income retained by the women's groups managing the loan hubs.
  6. Loan Program operations are self-sustaining after 36 months of funding.
  7. Excess income after expenses is used for community projects like clean water and health screenings.
  8. Human capacity building at the village-level through intensive training programs for local women.
  9. Construction of village-level loan hubs that are easily accessed by rural women.
  10. Twenty-member loan solidarity groups use social capital as collateral to foster loan repayment.
  11. Peer-to-peer knowledge transfer and business skills training by trained village women.
  12. Surveys document program impact of measureable improvements in household living standards.
GuideStar Exchange - Platinum Participant Global Giving Top Ranked 2017

Donate to the WMI Cause:

Your donation will give an impoverished woman in rural East Africa the opportunity to start her own business. With the revenues generated from her micro-enterprise, she will be able to raise the standard of living for her entire family and help make their future more secure. LEARN MORE »


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WMI women working