Expanding Financial Inclusion in the DRC

With tremendous support from the Government of Canada, FINCA is expanding financial inclusion in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). During its first five years, the Financial Inclusion Project has helped our clients’ make remarkable improvements. They’ve increased their standard of living, created jobs, and built assets.

The project is surpassing its goals to improve financial equity for both women and men.

Successes in 2022

As we start the sixth and final year of the project, we wanted to celebrate its recent successes. Most importantly, we saw a reduction in poverty rates among clients. This was driven in part by the expansion of the Juste Pour Elle (Just for Her) loan product. As we neared year end, 1,478 women had Juste Pour Elle loans with a combined value of $7.8 million. But lots more happened too.

In 2022, the project’s financial literacy training was an immense success. It surpassed all targeted goals. And we are proud that FINCA is the only microfinance institution in the DRC to offer financial literacy training to community members.

We also launched a new diversity and inclusion course. It is the third such course we’ve created since the project inception. We also were able to share the course with other microfinance institutions so that their staff could benefit too.

Expanding Financial Inclusion in 2023

Looking to the year ahead, FINCA DRC clients will obtain additional benefits. Continued training on money management and budgeting will help our clients’ household and businesses thrive. In addition, FINCA DRC plans to:

• Make it easier for clients to access their accounts through a partnership with CFC/FLASH.
• Reach an additional 1,200 women entrepreneurs with the Juste Pour Elle product.
• Expand diversity and inclusion resources by introducing Culture and Values – our fourth diversity and inclusion course, to improve our staff ability to assist existing and prospective customers in a country where more than 200 languages are spoken.

Overall, we will continue expanding financial inclusion. The project will empower individuals and to share resources to dismantle socioeconomic, political, technological and environmental barriers that limit the dreams of the women and men we serve.