PUCA: Creating New Microfinance Partnerships in the Field >
Sub-Saharan Africa is one of the poorest regions in the world. Grameen Foundation wanted to find the best way to help microfinance institutions in the region achieve their mission of moving their clients out of poverty - and so PUCA was born.
PUCA, the PPI™ Users Collaborative in Africa, is an innovative, two-year initiative designed to help African microfinance institutions better target poor clients and track how they are moving out of poverty. The initiative, the first of its kind in Africa, is a new, multi-stakeholder group that unites five charter partners—Oikocredit, Catholic Relief Services, Terrafina Microfinance, Planet Rating and Grameen Foundation—with the national microfinance networks APIM/Mali and APSFD Senegal.
The initiative will work with three MFIs—Caurie Microfinance and U-IMCEC of Senegal and Kafo Jiginew of Mali—to implement the PPI and analyze its findings. During the course of the initiative, PUCA will promote the adoption of the PPI by other MFIs across Africa and in other countries where PUCA partners are active.
“The PUCA initiative is laying the foundation for the microfinance sector in Senegal and Mali to collect and use poverty assessment data in the most effective way,” said Norman Buckham, Grameen Foundation’s regional CEO for Africa. “It also enables us to demonstrate the importance of integrating social performance into the day-to-day operations of poverty-focused institutions in Africa and, equally important, to provide them with a blueprint for doing so.”
To Learn More:
- - Download our PUCA Fact Sheet in English or French
- - View the PUCA Press Release in English or French
- - Learn More about Grameen Foundation's work in Sub-Saharan Africa
