Accelerating Access to Microfinance:
Unitus Overview and Results
Why Unitus Exists
• What We Do: Fight global poverty
– We decrease poverty by increasing access to microfinance
• Our Strategy: Accelerate the growth of microfinance
– We select and partner with early-stage, high-potential
microfinance institutions around the globe
– We provide the technical and financial support that enables these
organizations to grow faster, and reach more of the world’s poor
• Our Impact: 1.4 Million+ empowered
– Our global portfolio of microfinance partners is reaching more than
1.4 million micro-entrepreneurs with affordable and life-changing
financial services
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Where We Work
As of January 2007, Unitus has 13 partners
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Unitus by the Numbers
1,400,000
13
3
Families empowered with access to microfinance
Worldwide partners in our portfolio
New countries represented in our portfolio in 2006,
representing almost 70,000 new clients
94
Dollars – the average loan size offered to small
entrepreneurs by Unitus microfinance partners
94
% Women – the Unitus portfolio of partners
empowers over a million women with life-changing
financial services.
109
% Annualized average growth rate of Unitus partners
“The work of Unitus as a microfinance accelerator is both complementary and
consistent with the work of Grameen. We applaud their strategy.”
Muhammad Yunus, Founder & Director of The Grameen Bank
Winner of 2006 Nobel Peace Prize
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Most Microfinance
Institutions (MFIs) are small
To date, the MFI industry has failed to develop a systematic and
sustainable growth model.
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Why Don’t MFIs grow?
Lack of Capital
Lack of Capacity
• Banks won’t lend because of
negatively perception of MFIs as
unprofitable and undisciplined
• Weak corporate governance
• Most are unregulated nonprofit
organizations, prevents
• Absence of management and
strategic planning systems
– Building equity base
– Optimizing use of commercial debt
for leverage
– Capturing savings deposits
• Limited access and familiarity
with local capital markets,
except for the few top-tier MFIs
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• Lack of management depth
• Insufficient business
infrastructure
– MIS/Accounting
– Technology
– HR
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Unitus Acceleration Model
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Select
Identifying favorable markets and selecting high-potential MFI partners.
Due Diligence Components:
• Market Opportunity: Supply/Demand, Social,
Political, and Environmental Considerations
• Organization Life Cycle: Start-ups and midmarket MFIs
• Institutional Factors: Visionary Management,
Legal Structure, Track Record, Systems
• Strategy and Mission: Poverty Focus,
Competitive Advantage, Marketing
• Focus on Profitability and Sustainability:
Operating Model, Portfolio Quality, Financial
Management
• Management’s dedication to collaboration
and commitment to growth
100
50
7
5
2006
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Consult
Capacity-building to prepare MFIs for rapid, long-term, profitable growth
• Improve corporate governance
– Ensure local board oversight; Unitus board participation
• Expand depth of senior management
– Evaluate organization structure
– Assist with establishment of hiring and training systems
• Strengthen reporting and strategic planning processes
– Implement Monthly Management Reporting and Balanced Scorecard
– Support adoption of industry best practices (e.g. CGAP reporting standards)
• Facilitate capacity-building consulting projects
– Improve MIS/Accounting systems and technology
– Implement performance and human resource management systems
– Expand product offering for target customer base
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Invest
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Catalyzing Rapid Growth
45,000
Average Clients Added Per Year
Unitus MFI Partners vs. Industry
8x Industry
40,000
Unitus is the fastest
growing network in
the industry;
our microfinance
partners have more
than a 109%
annualized average
growth rate.
35,000
Client Growth
30,000
25,000
4x Industry
20,000
15,000
10,000
2x Industry
5,000
0
2003
Microfinance Industry Average**
2004
2005
Unitus Portfolio Average
** Peer group MFIs (based on those who began the year with less than 100K clients, and who had reported to
client numbers for at least two consecutive years)
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Unitus Outreach in India
0-50k clients
Unitus penetration in India has grown both
in breadth and depth
50-100k clients
100-250k clients
250-500k clients
>500k clients
2004
2005
2006
Projected 2007
150,000 clients
430,000 clients
1 million clients
2.6 million clients
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Where We’re Going…
Our Goal for 2007: Double our outreach
2,000,000+
2006
11 Partners: 1.3 million empowered
2007
22 Partners: 2.6 million empowered
1,300,000+
1,000,000+
540,000+
245,000+
2,500+
25,000+
FY 07
PROJECTION
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