Making a difference through microcredit and saving facilities

Access to credit has opened up windows of opportunity in the lives of many poor families throughout the world. MISEREOR was thus delighted to learn that Dr. Paul Kammogne Fokam, Generaldirektor of the Afriland First Bank in Kamerun, had been awarded the 2004 Prize of the German Africa Foundation. Dr Fokam, who has been a MISEREOR partner for many years, accepted the prize from Horst Köhler, President of the Federal Republic of Germany.

MISEREOR Executive Director Josef Sayer welcomed the award as an important token of the international recognition accorded to work in the field of microcredit. He explained how Dr Fokam, in his capacity as Board Chairman of the Afriland First Bank, was making a decisive contribution towards securing permanent, inclusive access to vital financial services for poor segments of the population in Cameroon. And there are many encouraging stories to back this up. Take Pélagie Evina, for instance, who just a few years ago eked out a precarious living for her family by selling homemade ice cream. Today she is employed as a laboratory assistant in a medical practice.  

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan recently referred to microfinance as a modern-day success story. It is therefore appropriate that 2005 was declared the UN International Year of Microcredit. This does not just mean extending loans to the poor. Far more is at stake. "A small loan, a savings account, an affordable way to send a pay-cheque home, can make all the difference to a poor or low-income family" was Annan's message. Development cooperation uses the term "microfinance", which simply means "sustainable financial services for the poor".

MISEREOR considers the poor's access to financial services – i.e. to credit, savings, money transfer and insurance – an important poverty reduction strategy. Even today, over one billion people have no access to such services. Estimates suggest that at a worldwide level, a mere 10 percent of the poor who are able to work can access savings and credit options. This exclusion of low-income groups from appropriate financial services is a constraint on local and self-determined development processes.  

MISEREOR has been active in the microfinance sector for many years and has continued to develop its promotion strategies over the course of time. Please take a moment to read more about our activities and priorities in this field. Take a look at a concrete project example from Cameroon and some interesting facts about microfinance.