Buusaa Gonofaa, a microfinance institution in Ethiopia's Oromia region has been named a finalist for the European Microfinance Award. The prestigious annual award hands €100,000 for the winner and €10,000 for the runners-up.
Buusaa Gonofaa will compete with two other final contenders, Muktinath Bikas Bank Ltd from Nepal, and RENACA-Bénin from Benin.
Muktinath Bikas Bank of Nepal and RENACA-Bénin are also put in the finalist list with Buusaa Gonofaa Microfinance for the Award. The three have been selected out of 70 organizations from 37 countries, the award selection committee stated.
Founded in 1999 with a particular focus on women, landless youth and smallholder farmers, Buusaa Gonofa Microfinance S.C. (BG) provides credit, savings and agriculture value chain financing to improve their livelihood. The MFI is licensed and supervised by the National Bank of Ethiopia.
"BG was selected for its high-touch saving initiative called ‘Dejaf Iqub’ [ደጃፍ ዕቁብ], which offers a safe, easy and appealing way of saving through regular doorstep collection of goal-based small deposits. Dejaf Iqub targets informal microentrepreneurs operators with active cash flows who run businesses in densely populated market centers," the Selection Committee noted.
The final screening will be held from November 16 through November 20, 2020, and the winner will be announced then.
The European Microfinance Award is organized by a Luxembourg-based 150-member network. The award money is granted by the Luxembourg Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs.
Source: European Microfinance Award website
