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Impact Study for 3 Microfinance Institutions Supported By Stromme Microfinance East Africa
The microfinance industry has learnt that in order to achieve financial inclusion and contribute to positive changes in the lives of clients, financial service providers need to be client-centric. SMF EA Ltd (Strømme Foundation’s microfinance apex in East Africa) through its microfinance intervention is committed to creating positive changes in the lives of enterprising poor. For many years, the industry has emphasized financial sustainability, but SMF EA Ltd realises that strong financial performance alone does not necessarily translate into benefits for clients. In order to measure the impact of SMF EA Ltd’s intervention on the livelihoods of its partner clients during the 2014-18 strategic planning period, three socially oriented partners were sampled from Uganda. These sampled Partner Institutions have taken deliberate actions to be sustainable and serve clients’ interests, including reaching excluded people, protecting their clients from harm, and designing and delivering appropriate products that help clients cope with emergencies, invest in economic opportunities and build assets, and manage their daily and life-cycle financial needs. The objective of the study was to follow up the results of the baseline study that was carried out with 1,002 partner clients in the three Partner Institutions in 2014. In addition, the impact study also assessed the impact of SMF EA Ltd’s intervention on the livelihoods of these partner clients.