Title: Kenya Rural Enterprise Program : case study of a microfinance scheme
Abstract: This report summarizes the findings of an action research conducted on the operations of Kenya Rural Enterprise Programme (K-REP), a microfinance institution (MFI) in Kenya. The program was established in 1984 by World Education, Inc., a US-based private voluntary organization. It was designed as an intermediary nongovernmental organization (NGO) to provide credit and technical assistance to other NGOs. Member savings are required in order to borrow from K-REP. The institution obtains funds from commercial banks for on-lending to its borrowers. K-REP lends to clients who under normal circumstances would find it difficult to access credit from commercial banks. It involves the beneficiary groups in making major decisions. The clients have been able to expand their business and increase the numbers of their employees, and have been introduced to the banking system. Lessons learned and innovations that K-REP developed fall in three broad categories: organizational, operational, and outreach. First, K-REP develops a group-based credit model following experimentation with a pilot Juhudi Scheme, an indigenous credit system. Second, K-REP shifted towards a minimalist approach by which it provided credit to its clients with minimal amounts of training and social services. These two changes led to a significant increase in outreach, both in number of clients and loan volume, under the Juhudi Scheme.
Publication Year: 1997
Publication Date: 1997-12-31
Language: en
Type: article
Access and Citation
Cited By Count: 11
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