Social Issue

According to the Human Development Index, prepared by the United Nations to measure the progress of a country and the standard of living of its inhabitants, Senegalese are amongst those with the worst quality of life in the world.

At the same time, the World Bank classifies Senegal as a low-income country. It is estimated that only 15-20% of the population has access to banking services.

In this sense, accessing microloans can be vitally important for agricultural households, since they survive on highly seasonal activities and income.

Our Response

We collaborate with CAURIE-MF, an entity focused on serving micro-entrepreneurs in rural areas, mainly women, and which has a presence in 13 of the 14 regions of Senegal.

It was formed in 2005 from the merger of two assistance programmes from the NGOs Catholic Relief Services and Caritas Senegal. Although it became a cooperative in 2009, Caritas Senegal remains the majority shareholder and guarantor of its social mission.

CAURIE-MF stands out for its “Village Banking” model, which consists of 6-month loans, with the capital paid when due to solidarity groups made up of a maximum of 100 women. This model represents more than 87% of its loan portfolio.

Expected Social Impact

With the Netri Foundation Loan, it is expected that CAURIE-MF will be able to provide more than 7,500 microloans, with some 37,500 estimated beneficiaries.