Buusaa Gonofaa, an Ethiopian microfinance institution (MFI) has won the 2nd European Microfinance Award, which is worth EUR 100,000 in prize money. The prize, provided by the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, was announced at the European Microfinance Week event (12–14 Nov), hosted by the European Microfinance Platform. This year’s award was designed to recognise and reward microfinance players who had produced outstanding work in the area of social responsibility. Buusaa Gonofaa were rewarded for their development of an innovative system for determining customer needs and evaluating changes in their social well-being.
Buusaa Gonofaa, was established in 1998 as on offshoot of the NGO Hundee which specialises in community development (and which holds 93% of the capital). The organisation provides micro-credit and savings services to poor households in Ethiopia with a particular emphasis on women, landless young people and small farmers. Buusaa Gonofaa has 75,000 active customers, 80% of whom are women and 75% of whom are rural. It has a USD 4 million portfolio with total assets of USD 5 million and approximately 200 staff. The organisation has a 5 diamond rating from the MIX Market.
Buusaa tried to work out if it was targeting the right people with its services and to see if it was making a difference, so began compiling information from its clients asking them what they thought equalled poor and how progress could be measured. From this the organisation refined a research process and established a set of indicators that helped them assess the needs of current and future clients.
The European Microfinance Week 2008 was hosted by the European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP) to facilitate the exchange of information and to promote cooperation among the various European actors involved in microfinance in developing countries. e-MFP is the largest microfinance platform, with over 80 organisational members, including banks and financial institutions, government agencies, NGOs, consultancy firms, researchers and universities.
e-MFP’s judging panel for the award, chaired by Carmen Velasco, founder of the Bolivian MFI Pro Mujer, also awarded prizes to Angkor Microfinance Kampuchea (AMK) of Cambodia and Red Financiera Rural (RFR) of Ecuador.
By Amy Rennison
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