CDC and Finnfund invest in microfinance pioneer to drive women entrepreneurship in Pakistan
CDC Group, the UK’s publicly owned impact investor and Finnfund, the Finnish development financier and impact investor, have provided a US$25 million senior unsecured loan facility to Kashf Foundation, one of the leading microfinance institutions in Pakistan.
Kashf Foundation promotes female entrepreneurship and has so far enabled more than a million low-income families across Pakistan to improve their standard of living. CDC has committed US$15 million while Finnfund has committed US$10 million.
Pakistan’s ranking for gender equality remains one of the lowest in the world. Kashf Foundation believes in creating an enabling environment for women micro-entrepreneurs and is committed to creating products and services driven by client needs and demands. With a 50% gender ratio at all staff tiers, Kashf Foundation demonstrates best practice in gender diversity and leadership development.
Roshaneh Zafar, Founder and Managing Director of Kashf Foundation, said: “We are proud to have been a trendsetter in 1996 as the first specialized microfinance organization in the country with a clear focus on women micro-entrepreneurs. For the next five years, our focus is to further enhance women’s productivity across our network of branches and develop more customized solutions for our clients, while gearing to expand outreach to over 1 million female clients.”
Kashf Foundation’s client-focused approach means that product development starts with the needs of the clients – the company offers for example health insurance solutions for recovery deposits and livestock loans.
Stephen Priestley, Managing Director, Head of Financial Services at CDC, said:” Empowering women entrepreneurs is one of the best ways of achieving significant development impact. In the Kashf Foundation, we have the perfect partner in Pakistan to deliver on this goal.”
Kashf Foundation’s strong mission is closely linked to the Client Protection Principles. Ensuring the practice of good ethics is high on the company’s agenda. Kashf Foundation offers training courses that help build skills that are directly related to financial management, business development and vocational skills.
Ulla Huotari, Finnfund’s Investment Manager, said: “This is Finnfund’s first direct investment in Pakistan. We are looking forward to a partnership with Kashf Foundation as we share the commitment to empowering women through enabling financial services. Kashf has truly been a pioneer in the country.”
During 2020, Pakistan has been under lockdown to curb the spread of COVID-19. The lockdown has disproportionally impacted small business owners that are dependent on a steady income. Kashf Foundation was the first microfinance institution in the country to reschedule loan payments for its clients and has also launched a relief program to meet the immediate needs of clients from low-income households.
“Having both CDC and Finnfund as our partners means that we can continue towards our ambitious goals and make sure that our clients get the support they need through this difficult time”, said Zafar.
Most low-income households lack access to formal safety nets and are highly vulnerable to shocks such as death of the breadwinner, illness, and disease. Kashf was the first institution to offer credit life insurance in 2002 which has since become an industry practice. More recently Kashf has been able to successfully demonstrate the business case for a pro-poor women centric health insurance.
The investment is classified as a 2X Challenge gender commitment, as both CDC and Finnfund are members of the initiative that recently exceeded its initial target by committing and mobilizing $4.5 billion in capital towards women’s economic empowerment.
More information:
CDC Group: Lilian Bergman, Investment Manager, tel. +44 7384901183, lbergman@cdcgroup.com
Finnfund: Ulla Huotari, Investment Manager, tel. +358 50 594 2296, ulla.huotari@finnfund.fi
Kashf Foundation: Shahzad Iqbal, CFO, tel. +92 423 5248917, shahzad.iqbal@kashf.org
