Partnering to Grow Poverty-focused Microfinance
This article describes how Oikocredit, in partnership with Grameen Foundation, adopted the Progress out of Poverty Index (PPI) and piloted its implementation on partner MFIs in Peru and the Philippines.
Oikocredit, a privately owned cooperative society that provides credit for development, joined forces with Grameen Foundation to incorporate PPI in its social performance management system. The partnership launched a pilot effort involving ten Oikocredit partners in Philippines and Peru. The article describes the Training of Trainers workshops and presents case studies of pilot implementation in Prisma, Peru and RSPI, Philippines. Major results from the first eight months of Oikocredit-Grameen partnership include:
- Oikocredit became the first social investor to promote PPI;
- Oikocredit Philippines created new forms to address loan details, improved its MIS and developed customized mechanisms for validating survey results;
- All participating MFIs in Philippines and two MFIs in Peru decided to continue the use of PPI;
- Two MFIs in Philippines and one MFI in Peru found that a high percentage of new clients were above the poverty line.
Oikocredit proposes to launch PPI in 2-3 countries every year with Cambodia and Ecuador as priority countries for 2009.
