Resisting in times of conflict: the testimony of Hekima, a partner based in the Democratic Republic of Congo, at SIDI’s General Meeting

Like every year, the Annual General Meeting is an opportunity for SIDI to invite one of its partners to speak. This year, we were delighted to welcome Laurent Daddy Yamba, Director of the microfinance institution (MFI) Hekima partner of SIDI in the East of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

A partnership between Hekima and SIDI based on trust

The first contacts between Hekima and SIDI date back to 2013, and the partnership officially began in 2021. It is based on great trust. In terms of financing, SIDI and FEFISOL (European Solidarity Fund for Africa)financent Hekima up to1.5 million since 2021. At the same time At Hekima’s request, SIDI joined its Board of Directors, contributing to the debate on its strategic and controlled development: portfolio growth, digitalization, expansion in a high-risk area.

Hekima and the situation in Kivu

Laurent D. Yamba explained how Hekima continues to work in a difficult context: since January 2025, the offensive led by the M23, a rebel group active in Kivu supported by Rwandan soldiersaishas led to atrocities, displacement of populations, economic losses and widespread insecurity, all of which are undermining the MFI’s activities (see our article on the M23 takeover of Goma and the impact on our partners and the population). On June 27, a peace agreement was signed between the DRC and Rwanda, but the situation remains uncertain.

Founded in 2007, Hekima is an MFI headquartered in Goma and through three three other branches in Bukavu, Kalemie and Lubumbsahi. It had 8,119 active borrowers and a loan portfolio of $9.7 million at the end of the first quarter of 2025. The MFI mainly targets women entrepreneurs (78% of its clientele), notably through group loans (inspired by local tontines) mainly in urban areas, due to the risks associated with the informal agricultural sector.

Since January 2025, cash has been in short supply, so MFIs have become strategic structures, but also particularly exposed, endangering Hekima’s activities and team. Between violence against customers, looting of borrowers’ businesses the economic slowdown and logistical difficulties, Hekima, like all other MFIS in the region, has had to scale back its operations.

Laurent Daddy Yamba is currently in Kinshasa for security reasons. Exchanges with customers have become difficult, as have loan rescheduling. While some MFIs are still holding out, many mutualist structures “only hold out in name. They’re dead.

“Microfinance institutions are dying and need support – and they’ll need it even more tomorrow, when the crisis is over, because we’ll need to restart operations.”

Exchanges with customers have become difficult, as have loan rescheduling. While some MFIs are still holding out, many mutualist structures “only hold out in name. They’re dead.

Maintaining business despite conflict

Despite all this, Hekima continues to operate and serve its customers, constantly adapting. Fallback points are organized for fund-raising and distribution, sometimes in hotels. The team, though dispersed, continues to work from home, arranging appointments at the safest times. All remain hopeful and committed to their mission, despite the civil war.

This business continuity has strengthened customer confidence in Hekima. In Goma, from March to May 2025, the MFI was able to finance 476 loans for a total of $246,000, in the form of small loans of around $500, in a region where cash is scarce and crucial for access to healthcare or food. In these complex times, Laurent Daddy Yamba explains how Hekimato loans to as the impact is greater.

What solutions for tomorrow?

Laurent Daddy Yamba also lobbies international and national institutions and national institutions – IMF, World Bank, Central Bank of Congo – for the creation of a recovery fund for the post crisis. In fact, no MFI can cope with the upturn in activity on its own. . This stimulus fundwould three components: 0-rate loans, subsidy funds – either for equipment or for the portfolio – and the rapidly usable financial guarantees. For Laurent Daddy Yamba, such asuch a stimulus fund is essential to restart operations as soon as security conditions allow customers to return in large numbers.

A meaningful testimony

Invite Hekima and his Director Laurent Daddy Yamba to our Annual General Meeting is an honour for SIDI, and also a strong way of expressing our solidarity with our partnerthe Congolese people and microfinance players in Kivu. Today, the challenge is clear: to stand by Hekima and prepare for the post-conflict period.

In Lebanon, the fragile renaissance of Al Majmoua and microcredit, despite financial crisis and war

I took over the monitoring of the SIDI partnership for Lebanon in January 2025. A first mission, scheduled for February, had to be cancelled at the last minute due to the excessive Israeli bombardment of Beirut, despite the truce that had been signed. In May, I was finally able to leave, with my colleague Ariane Bevierre and a delegation from ADIE. During this mission, I discovered the resilience of Al Majmoua, the leading microfinance institution in Lebanon, a partner I know little about, but which is perfectly in line with SIDI’s target.

Banks in Lebanon are no longer operational

When I arrived, I discovered a country where there were no banking services and no financial activities. In 2020, following a massive devaluation, the banks confiscated savers’ assets ($90 billion!). The country’s elite got their money out in time. But the rest of the population found their accounts blocked and were unable to withdraw any money, except in small amounts. In recent months, it was still forbidden to withdraw more than 250 dollars a month. At this rate, it would take 3,000 years for Al Majmoua to recover the $9 million sequestered in his accounts. As a result, no one is depositing money with the banks, which are not granting any loans.

With average incomes plummeting and 30% of the population living below the poverty line, the demand for credit is enormous. The only recourse is money from the diaspora or microfinance. The problem? No donor wants to go to Lebanon any more because of the losses incurred during the crisis.

Lebanon’s financial crisis nearly wiped out our partner Al Majmoua

Before the crisis, Al Majmoua was a highly successful financial institution, managing over 100,000 loans. At the time of the crisis, it found itself on the verge of complete bankruptcy. With the devaluation of the Lebanese pound, its portfolio lost 99% of its value, given the exchange rate imposed. The association lost all its financial assets in the turmoil: $50 million!

The association’s bankruptcy was avoided thanks to the settlement of its debts by the donors, who assumed losses of $50 million, including $1 million for SIDI.

Loans repaid on time and on budget

After almost disappearing, Al Majmoua continues to operate with caution. With the little money it has, it issues modest loans averaging around $500. This enables it to reach more people. By April 2025, it had 23,000 loans outstanding. Of these, 85% are to support economic activity.

In Beirut, I visit a Palestinian chicken seller. The ceiling of her store collapsed during the Israeli bombardments. The loan will enable her to repair the ceiling, so that she can continue her business and gradually pay back her loan instalments.

Against the backdrop of Lebanon’s financial crisis and war, I’m impressed by Al Majmoua’s loan recovery rate of 98%. Including in bomb-ravaged southern Lebanon and the Bekaa plain.

Among the loan beneficiaries I met, I felt a strong sense of identification with Al Majmoua and recognition. For them, nothing is more important than paying, because Al Majmoua is the only entity that can lend them money for their projects. They hope that the association can continue to help them get back on their feet.

A global vision in the fight against poverty

I totally identify with Al Majmoua’s approach.

For Al Majmoua, microcredit is not an end in itself, but first and foremost a means of combating poverty. The association carries out both financial and non-financial activities. To support its members, it acts on various levers: financing, but also education and organization. For example, it offers a financial education program: how to manage a loan, a budget, a forecast. It’s a basic entrepreneurial culture that’s extremely important if you want to get out of poverty.

This posture is not so common in the world of microfinance. But it is totally in keeping with SIDI, which offers both financial services and support.

For me, this global approach is the most effective way to fight poverty. Because poverty has many facets, and credit alone solves nothing.

Supporting the rebirth of Al Majmoua

It’s not easy to think about lending again in Lebanon. SIDI (or rather FID, the guarantee fund backed by congregations, CCFD-Terre Solidaire and SIDI itself) has had to cover major losses. But this seems to me to be the right time to support Al Majmoua in its redeployment, at a time when so few organizations are backing it. It’s an institution that seems to me to have the potential and the qualities to turn itself around.

In a context where poverty has exploded, the demand for microcredit is very high. But so far, no one wants to return to Lebanon. Wouldn’t it make sense for SIDI, which “wants to go where others don’t go”, to get involved again?

It’s our job, as partnership managers, to maintain this balance between preserving the resources of SIDI’s shareholders and fulfilling the mission they entrust to us.

 

Interview by Anne-Isabelle Barthélémy

Photo credits: Philippe Lissac – agence Godong /SIDI; except ADIE cover photo

SICSA, a key player in inclusive finance in Central America

Clients Microfinance (10)

SICSA is a microfinance refinancing institution registered in Panama but with offices in Honduras. Created in 2006 on the initiative of the Central American microfinance network REDCAMIF, it plays a key role in supporting the microfinance sector in Central America. This region, marked by high levels of inequality and chronic political instability, remains one of the world’s most vulnerable to economic and climatic shocks. Microfinance plays an essential role in enabling populations excluded from traditional banking channels to develop a business and strengthen their resilience.

Now active in six countries, SICSA offers a diversified range of financial products and services to some thirty small microfinance institutions (MFIs) in the region. Its added value lies in its ability to act as an intermediary for these MFIs, which are generally not large enough to attract funds from international investors.

By providing financial support to these MFIs, SICSA reaches the most vulnerable populations, helping to reduce poverty through financial inclusion. It focuses in particular on women, young people and rural communities. The aim is to encourage their long-term empowerment by financing income-generating activities such as trade and agriculture.

SICSA attaches particular importance to the quality of its offering and to the satisfaction of its partner MFIs, which is regularly assessed via surveys. It also ensures that these institutions share its social values and ambitions. As a signatory to the Joint Declaration on Customer Protection, it actively promotes best practices in this area. At the same time, SICSA integrates an environmental dimension into its mission by supporting its customers in the development of green financial products.

A strategic and lasting partnership

The partnership between SICSA and SIDI began in 2015 and has grown stronger over the years thanks to SICSA’s stability and social commitment. In 2019, SIDI acquired a stake in the institution, marking a commitment to long-term collaboration. Since then, a SIDI consultant has sat on SICSA’s Board of Directors and taken part in strategic decisions, particularly on social and environmental issues.

In 2022, at SIDI’s instigation, SICSA’s management committee benefited from an awareness-raising session on social and environmental performance. The workshop highlighted good practices already in place within the institution, and highlighted the need to formalize them in order to better leverage their impact.

Following SICSA’s strategic planning for 2023, SIDI offered dedicated support to structure and highlight the organization’s social and environmental commitment. Over the course of a year, SIDI’s PES department worked with the SICSA team to establish a formal framework including social objectives and monitoring indicators. The entire SICSA team was involved in this project, which generated enriching exchanges on the organization’s mission, practices and future ambitions.

Once the objectives and indicators had been defined, in-depth work was carried out on data collection and consolidation tools to ensure effective monitoring of social and environmental performance over the long term. After an initial test of these new tools, and successful data collection by the Sicsa team, the PSE division continued its support by assisting the organization in drawing up their first social report.

A stronger commitment to the future

This dynamic has led to a concrete result: a first social balance sheet that clearly illustrates SICSA’s positioning and social impact in Central America. More than a simple formalization exercise, this work has enabled SICSA to anchor its social and environmental commitment as a central strategic axis of its business.

We are proud to support SICSA in this endeavor and are convinced that this structuring effort will help strengthen its impact in the field. Many thanks to the entire SICSA team for their commitment and vision, and we look forward to continuing this wonderful collaboration!

A découvrir ! Le bilan social de SICSA

Vanilla of Madagascar, a journey at the end of the world with a new partner

Before it enhances our ice creams, cannelés and custards sublime, did you know that vanilla had to travel a road full of pitfalls? For SIDI, Gabrielle Orliange travelled the vanilla trail to meet the cooperatives, from Madagascar’s capital, Tananarive, to the jungle around Mananara. We invite you to follow her, particularly on the day she reaches a particularly isolated area, and discover a new facet of the job of partnership manager at SIDI.

I live in Madagascar where I work part-time as a partnership officer for SIDI. Having identified a possible new partner in the agricultural sector, I needed to meet them in the field. MVE (Madagascar Vanilla Export) is a family-run SME that processes vanilla for export. It buys vanilla from two cooperatives of male and female producers, and also helps them to structure themselves.

After four months of e-mail exchanges, I organized a seven-day mission to meet them and present a detailed report to SIDI’s Financing Committee with a view to obtaining a loan.

MVE is based in Tamatave, about 400 kilometers from Tananarive, the capital of Madagascar where I live. Covering this distance took me a full day in a bush cab. Then I continued by 4X4 for two more days on bumpy roads, meeting producers in coastal areas.

Meeting in the highlands

On this fourth day, I have to reach a village near Mananara, located on the “high plateaus“1, in a very dense forest. It’s here, in this particularly remote area, that the best quality vanilla grows.

The track is too narrow for a 4X4, and we start with a two-hour ride through the mud. By the time I reach the village, some fifteen growers from the Label Vavasaha cooperative, which numbers around 500, are gathered in the village hall. I can tell they’re eager to show me their plantations. To do so, we have to go deeper into the jungle. We start by taking a pirogue, before finally clearing a path with a machete.

Once we arrived, they were very proud to show me their plots, where Madagascar’s finest vanilla is grown!

I can see big green beans hanging from the vines wrapped around the trees. Vanilla is a very demanding crop, requiring constant care. Native to Mexico, it has to be cut and the flowers fertilized by hand to produce vanilla.

At the end of the world

I’m struck by the isolation of these producers. It’s like being at the end of the world. Madagascar is already a lonely island. The vastness of its territory and the area’s lack of accessibility add to this feeling.

In a way, this isolation, which protects them from theft, suits the growers. But arriving after four days of acrobatic transport, I understand the logistical cost of growing vanilla. I have even more respect for MVE, forced to deal with this reality and its share of unforeseen events: broken-down cars, fuel supply problems. It’s not easy to get vanilla from so far away.

The second thing that stands out for me is how the value of vanilla has helped generate wealth. Even though these areas are very isolated, I see motorcycles everywhere, satellite dishes and 4X4s. Goods that are very rare on the agricultural plateaus near Tananarive, a less landlocked but poorer region that mainly produces rice.

Here, everyone grows vanilla, from a few beans to several kilos. This windfall benefits everyone, even if some benefit more than others.

For male and female growers, the difference lies in the way they sell their produce. Those who work alone find it harder to sell their produce at a good price. But those who manage to form cooperatives are able to negotiate and sell their produce at a better price. MVE is keen to buy vanilla from cooperative producers at a higher price than the market price.

Tour of the processing site

On the way home, I stop off at the final processing site in Tamatave. The MVE warehouse is located in a discreet, safe and secure area, with guards.

Here, vanilla is sun-dried for several weeks. The beans are then sorted before being cured in caissons to develop their aroma. After several months, they are checked and graded by quality before being packed for export.

In the final stage, the vanilla is sent to Tananarive before being shipped to Europe. The fragile beans travel by air. The more resistant powder can be shipped by boat. It takes no less than 90 days on average to reach France from Tananarive.

An extraordinary mission

This mission was a real discovery for me, even though I live in Madagascar. I’ve never been so far into the country. The other partners we work with on the island in the microfinance sector are much more accessible. This allows us to strike a balance. Although the partnership with MVE is financially more risky for SIDI, it fulfils our vocation of supporting the agricultural sector and strengthening this type of business.

As it is a structure that has never benefited from investments, SIDI’s loan represents real added value for it. This is what we call a “impact partner”, and I was able to measure its social and environmental commitment on the spot.

The loan was disbursed in the summer of 2024. Thanks to it, the vanilla could be purchased from the producers. As it does every year at this time, MVE is awaiting approval to export to European buyers. The sale of vanilla will allow MVE to repay the Sidi loan. If they manage to repay and meet the deadline, the loan can be renewed in 2025, enabling them to buy vanilla this summer.

 

Interview by Anne-Isabelle Barthélémy

 

1. These are high plateaus, but they have nothing to do with the Malagasy high plateau region, which rises to 1,500 m.

The M23 takeover of Goma: a direct impact on the population and the activities of SIDI’s partners in Kivu

Hekima RDC

For several weeks now, the Kivu region of the Democratic Republic of Congo has been experiencing another major crisis. The capture of the town of Goma by the M23 armed group, supported by Rwandan soldiers, has left the population into a dramatic situation: at least 2,900 people were killed on February 07, 2025, according to the United Nations. Large-scale displacements, economic losses and widespread insecurity punctuated the daily lives of thousands of families.

A region marked by chronic instability

Bordering Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi, Kivu has been mired for more than twenty years in an almost permanent conflict situation, which maintains a chronic instability hampering the socio-economic development of the territory and its inhabitants. This particularly complex situation in Kivu has made it a priority region for SIDI, which has seven local partners covering all its fields of intervention: financial inclusion (microfinance institutions such as Paidek, Guilgal, Hekima, credit cooperative unions such as COOCEC, promoters of solidarity mutuals), agricultural value chains (organic coffee and fair trade cooperatives Muungano and CPNCK) and the fight against climate change (through an innovative partnership with Altech, a renewable energy supplier).

SIDI partners directly impacted

The capture of Goma, the capital of North Kivu, has had a direct impact on our local partners, in particular Hekima, a microfinance institution (MFI) which SIDI has been supporting for several years and which has its headquarters in Goma. This MFI plays an essential role: it grants group loans to women entrepreneurs. Hekima reaches nearly 15,000 beneficiaries, 74% of whom are women, who, thanks to appropriate financing, are able to develop their activities and strengthen their economic resilience. Today, however, operations have ground to a halt, and the teams have to adapt to protect themselves and their beneficiaries, while maintaining a minimum level of activity. As for SIDI’s partner coffee cooperatives, the situation is equally dramatic as the season got underway at the end of January. Muungano, the coffee cooperative based in Kiniezire, was unable to start collecting coffee cherries from its 4,245 member producers because of the fighting. For its part, the CPNCK cooperative, based on the island of Idjwi on Lake Kivu, no longer has access to the financial resources blocked in Goma, but which are nonetheless necessary to pay its 2,300 producers.

SIDI, working alongside its partners

Above and beyond the impact on our mission as a socially responsible investor, it is above all the daily lives of local populations that are affected. In times of crisis, humanitarian and economic needs are immense. At SIDI, we remain mobilized to support our partners in Kivu as much as possible, in the hope of a rapid return to stability. We also salute the courage of the local teams and populations who continue, despite everything, to commit themselves to maintaining economic activity in Kivu.

 

photo credit: Philippe Lissac – Godong agency / SIDI

Welcome to Emmanuel Gagnerot, SIDI’s new Director of Operations and Partnerships

Could you introduce yourself and share with us what led you to join SIDI?

My career path has been marked by a different kind of economy. I chose to work in the Social and Solidarity Economy sector, which enabled me to reconnect – without really knowing it at the time (!) – with a family entrepreneurial commitment marked by the Resistance. After a few years in the fight against racism and for equal opportunities between men and women, notably at European level, I plunged into the technical – and financial – side of supporting cooperatives, social integration enterprises, foundations, associations… associations… with France Active. France Active[1], in the field. I then joined Crédit Coopératif, where I managed the Social and Solidarity Economy department. I believe in combining action, technical expertise and ethics to take concrete action in favor of a different kind of economy… At the service of people, not the other way round. Meeting SIDI was an obvious choice for me: the teams, the volunteers and the governance all share the same commitment, with one burning conviction: that a different kind of economy is synonymous with peace and international development.

What major challenges do you see for SIDI in the regions where it operates?

Three key examples illustrate this diversity: the worsening of certain armed conflicts over the past two years threatens to wipe out the activities of some of our partners, such as ACAD, a long-standing microfinance player in Palestine, and Fair Trade Tourism Limited in Lebanon. Secondly, the effects of the climate crisis are having repercussions on certain agricultural sectors, with prices (cocoa, coffee) soaring to record levels, putting the economic models of the African and South American producer organizations we support under strain. Finally, monetary uncertainty is weighing on many of our partners, such as the Sahel states (Mali, Niger, Burkina), which wish to leave the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) in favor of a scenario yet to be written[2]. Or, on another continent, Bolivia, whose financial chaos and scarcity of dollars is weighing heavily on the cost of our financial interventions. In 2024, the “operational” team organized itself to meet the complexity of these challenges: a presence on the ground with teams based in Lomé (Togo), Bujumbura (Burundi), Kampala (Uganda) and Antananarivo (Madagascar); a reorganization of the geographical team into three poles(Latin America, West and North Africa, East and Southern Africa) to ensure the closest possible follow-up of our partners; this with the support of two transversal poles (Accompaniment, Social and Environmental Performance). I note with admiration that the expertise and commitment of the eighteen professionals on the operational team remain at the highest level. And the long-term professionalism of the entire SIDI team, as well as the commitment of our volunteer consultants and shareholders, give us every confidence, despite the size of the challenges ahead.

What are your priorities as Director of Operations and Partnerships?

My priority is to stabilize this new organization and, together with the entire SIDI team, make it as effective as possible. The second key objective is to strike the right balance between the development and consolidation of our portfolio, which now comprises 130 partners with 50 million in outstandings in some 30 countries. It is this balance that enables SIDI to be fully useful. Another obvious objective, given the nature of our business, is to ensure the safety of our teams during missions in risky territories.

In your opinion, what role do citizens play in the success of SIDI’s solidarity investments?

Thanks to its unique business model supported by citizen shareholders, SIDI enjoys a rare freedom to act in favour of economic development in areas where few state or civil society players are involved (Mozambique, Haiti, Bolivia, Guinea…). Let’s be clear: it’s not a question of intervening where no one else is doing so as to stand out. It’s a question of using financial tools to activate the levers of economic development, opening up prospects for financial autonomy and democratization of the economy. Without citizen shareholders, whom we call on to be ambassadors for their invaluable support to SIDI, we would not be able to intervene in the areas where we do. Today, it is very important to widen this circle to include the next generation of this “cosmopolitanism in action”: it is their children and grandchildren who will have the responsibility of supporting a world that is ever more open and ever more united.

You’ve already been on two missions to Guinea Conakry and Uganda. What impressed you most on these occasions?

First and foremost: the energy of SIDI’s partners in the field! It’s remarkable… Seeing the very tangible effects of SIDI’s financing and support for poor borrowers and small farmers has also strengthened my conviction that I am working for a mission of the future that is more decisive than ever. [ 1] Solidarity finance operator specializing in economic development. [ 2] SIDI is currently coordinating a study to be published in thefirst half of 2025 on the impact of this exit, in order to anticipate as far as possible its consequences for the partners supported in this region.

SIDI trip to Tunisia: participants tell their stories

Visite SIDI Beni Ghreb

In Tunisia, we took part in a meeting of SIDI shareholders who had come to observe how their money is being used to help people, and to put SIDI’s generous ideas of ” supporting the poorest” in the context of complex day-to-day realities.

In this way, SIDI has brought together a very wide range of “partners”.

1- First and foremost, Enda Interarabe, a structure that was supported and accompanied in the past, no longer really needs SIDI today, but continues to share its practices with us, for example when it promotes training to refine the personal project of each of its managers, or when it compensates for the inadequacy of school structures in Tunisia, thus playing a part in the common good of this country by disseminating good practices.

It’s good to meet the Enda Interarabe team, and in particular its founder Essma Ben Hamida, a radiant person who maintains the philosophy of service to beneficiaries and demonstrates that money for life is real.

2- Final beneficiaries, supported by Enda TamweelSIDI’s partner microfinance institution, work in all sectors of economic life. With very short-term loans, they set up their own business.

After Covid, one woman was able to transform her business, keep her premises and become a distributor of aloe vera-based wellness products: “Enda Tamweel really followed me and facilitated credit as and when I needed it”. She’s more than satisfied, she’s grateful.
We’ve met so many other ewe breeders, weavers, jewelry and dress designers, and the manager of a computer store, who’s on her third loan. She has created a job, pays her own way and takes care of her parents. She was very proud to show us the new machine that facilitates her computer activity, even though she was trained “on the job”…
These beneficiaries, different in age, needs and activity, were able to set up and develop with very little capital, thanks to their courage and ideas. The exemplary nature of SIDI’s action is very appealing.

3- In the south of Tunisia, we discovered larger companies. These agricultural companies, which market and export dates, take risks in the service of desert farmers.

With the Beni Ghreb partner, the entrepreneur’s welcome offers a nice surprise: “Thanks to you, we’re still here!” In other words, the family-run business is still going strong, enabling men and women to make a living from their work.

One hundred and twenty-three farmers and their families live in the harsh desert environment as the drought continues to take its toll…

In this oasis agriculture, attentive support is needed to solve every new problem, whether it’s drought, with its crucial corollary of water supply, Covid, insect pests, or switching to organic farming, which is more expensive than chemicals. At every stage, SIDI never let go of the company, playing the solidarity card to such an extent that the debt was transformed into a shareholding in the company’s capital. High-quality Deglet Nour dates are produced and exported.

The partnership with the farmers has enabled us to transform the irrigation model and add shrub crops, some market gardening and livestock farming to the palm trees, thereby increasing their income from dates.

Employment is maintained for the men who climb the trees several times a year (hand pollination, cleaning, pest protection and harvesting) and for the women who sort, classify, process and package the dates…

Then, with our partner South Organic, another organic date marketing company, we discovered an even more technical operation, with the presence of young women engineers, who enable scientific water management and the absence of chemical fertilizers in this pilot orchard, where all the region’s producers can come and learn these techniques. Here again, many people are employed in agricultural production and then in processing for shipment, often working for the company for several years and taking pride in their work.

In conclusion, Sidi is at the service of people, the economy and the earth. Here, the future is preserved, with those who stand up for themselves by raising sheep, sewing dresses, developing IT or growing dates. We keep hope alive…
And if the word shareholder is a dirty word, let’s be proud to be a shareholder of SIDI, which puts money at the service of people.

If the Gospel makes sense to you, we’ve found that SIDI brings the Parable of the Talents to life. Money lent, repaid and lent again…

Raymonde Richard and Françoise Michaud

Members of the Board ofESD, Epargne Solidarité Développement (SIDI’s association of individual shareholders)

Vahatra, a new impetus for financial inclusion in Madagascar

For the past five years, SIDI has been supporting the microfinance institution (MFI) Vahatra – Racines in Malagasy – in its institutional transformation. This year marks a decisive step: its transition from a microcredit NGO to a limited company (SA) regulated by the Madagascar Banking Commission. This change, the fruit of several years’ preparation, will enable Vahatra to consolidate its model and strengthen its capacity to better serve its 20,000 customers. These beneficiaries, mostly from rural areas between Tananarive, Antsirabé and Ampefy, often live below the extreme poverty line, in a country where 80% of the population subsists on less than US$1.90 a day, and where vulnerability to climate change is one of the highest in the world. To mark this transition, Joan Penche, SIDI‘s Head of East and Southern Africa, and Gabrielle Orliange, in charge of partnerships for Madagascar, went on a mission to the country. They exchanged views with Vahatra’s teams, visited its rural branches and met a dozen customers to better understand their reality and the services provided by the institution.

Institutionalization: a lever for social and financial impact

Vahatra’s institutionalization represents much more than an administrative change. The process involved a complete transformation: updating information systems, overhauling processes, preparing an application for approval by the banking commission, and setting up a new governance structure. SIDI supported this development by providing technical support for the legal process of obtaining approval and migrating to a new information system, as well as strategic support, in particular through the active participation of the partnership officer on the steering committee for this transition. In order to perpetuate this partnership, SIDI became a shareholder in the newly-created company, with a 23% stake (EUR 130,000), and obtained two directorships. It also continues to support Vahatra through a guarantee enabling the institution to take out a loan with a local bank. This dual commitment highlights the strategic importance of this institution for rural development in Madagascar.

A holistic vision to serve vulnerable populations

If SIDI is putting so many resources into the transformation of Vahatra, it’s because the partnership with this small MFI has a special meaning. Vahatra stands out for its integrated approach, combining financial services with tailor-made technical and social support for its clients, whom it calls its partners. With extensive experience in agricultural financing, it has developed a lending methodology tailored to the needs of the producers and breeders it finances. In addition to financial services, Vahatra offers technical services and training: for example, Vahatra systematically provides technical assistance to pig farmers receiving financial support (who account for 35% of the MFI’s portfolio) on measures to limit the risk of swine fever. Vahatra has also set up a compulsory mutual health insurance scheme for all its partner clients. This service was developed following the twofold observation that, in the event of an accident, the medical costs involved were often too high for the households targeted by Vahatra: this led them to have to choose between seeking treatment or repaying their loan. The mutual insurer covers the whole household for the duration of the loan. Finally, in line with its developmental vision, Vahatra also offers additional social and environmental services, including awareness-raising sessions on child and maternal health; coaching on obtaining identity papers; and the supply of seedlings from nurseries managed by the MFI. These actions strengthen community resilience while promoting sustainable practices.

Innovative tools to measure impact and limit risk

Social innovation is at the heart of Vahatra’s approach. The institution also distinguishes itself by the analytical tools it uses to evaluate and monitor its beneficiary clients. At a time when the microfinance sector is devoting increasing attention to outcome measurement, Vahatra is already ahead of the game. For several years now, it has been using the “family photo”, an analysis grid that measures the multidimensional poverty of its beneficiaries through criteria such as housing, nutrition or access to water. This tool also assesses the evolution of customers’ living conditions over several loan cycles. At the same time, the MFI has developed specific analysis grids for each of the agricultural sectors it finances (pork, rice, potatoes). These tools enable loan officers to identify the risks specific to each farm and propose appropriate solutions. For pig farmers, for example, the grid assesses factors such as feed quality, shelter and access to veterinary care.

A model for the future

Faced with regulatory and operational challenges, the institutionalization of Vahatra marks a strategic turning point. By separating its microfinance activities from its social and healthcare activities, the new limited company has gained in efficiency, while retaining its strong social mission, now carried out by the NGO. The partnership between SIDI and Vahatra bears witness to the impact that solidarity finance can have on vulnerable communities. By combining technical expertise and human commitment, this project demonstrates that it is possible to reconcile economic viability with lasting social impact. Thanks to this transformation, Vahatra is better equipped to respond to the complex challenges of poverty and climate change, helping to build a brighter future for Madagascar’s rural populations.

SIDI trip to Tunisia, local solutions to global challenges

At the beginning of November, a group of SIDI savers and solidarity shareholders travelled to Tunisia to discover how their investments come to life in the field. The trip enabled them to meet SIDI’s local partners and discover the projects supported, thus embodying the chain of financial solidarity that unites savers here and micro-entrepreneurs or small producers there.

Tunisia is facing multiple crises: democratic transition at a standstill, deteriorating public services, galloping inflation, very high unemployment, particularly among young people, large-scale emigration to Europe and Canada, illegal immigration from sub-Saharan Africa, etc. These political, economic and social challenges are compounded by environmental issues, in particular the water crisis exacerbated by recurrent droughts. Added to these political, economic and social challenges is the environmental issue, and in particular the water crisis exacerbated by recurrent droughts. In this context, SIDI’s partners, whether in sustainable agricultural sectors such as Beni Ghreb and South Organic, or in the microfinance sector such as Enda Tamweel, play a crucial role in supporting vulnerable communities in their economic development and improving their living conditions.

Enda Tamweel: microfinance for emancipation

Enda Tamweel has become the country’s leading Microfinance Institution (MFI): 472,000 customers for a country of 11 million inhabitants. SIDI has been a partner since its creation in 2015, when it acquired a stake in the MFI. Enda Tamweel offers small loans designed to support micro-entrepreneurs and small farmers in their economic activities. It primarily targets the informal sector (59% of its customers live below the poverty line), women and young people, and the rural sector with strategic support for agriculture. Today, the MFI is the leading financier of small-scale agriculture in Tunisia.

During our visits, we were able to talk to beneficiaries whose inspiring stories illustrate the impact of this organization. In a working-class district of Tunis, we met Amina, a shopkeeper and Enda customer for many years. Amina is on her 12th loan cycle with Enda, which has enabled her to expand her business, build up sufficient stock, send her children to school and secure her future. In another district, a sewing workshop supported by Enda for over 20 years now employs seven women, demonstrating that microfinance can be a lever for long-term sustainable development. In Kairouan, in the center of the country, another beneficiary impressed us with his small dairy cow farm. This project, which began with the purchase of a single cow thanks to a microcredit, has gradually grown to include seven cows and a fully-equipped barn. With the ongoing support of his specialist advisor, he now meets the strict standards of the local dairy, which collects his milk.

From the farmer who started out with one cow to the craftswoman who makes evening dresses and now employs seven seamstresses, these initiatives bear witness to the lasting impact of microfinance. This support goes far beyond the financial. Enda offers all its customers free training and local support, guaranteeing a strong relationship of trust between loan officer and beneficiary, as well as the sustainability of projects and genuine social inclusion. These initiatives transform not only individual lives, but entire communities.

South Organic and Beni Ghreb: innovation in the face of the water crisis

In southern Tunisia, water management is a daily challenge for farmers, especially date growers. We headed for the Hazoua oasis, on the Algerian border, where a family of producers has set up and runs a small business marketing and exporting Beni Ghreb dates. The company is backed by the Groupement pour le Développement de l’Agriculture en Biodynamie, which groups together around a hundred producers from the oasis. The dates produced are of the excellent Deglet Nour variety. Attending the date harvest on one of the producers’ plots is a magical moment. We were able to see the sprinkler irrigation system in place, which saves 70% of water consumption, and allows other crops to grow between the date palms, notably fruit bushes. We then visited the packaging unit, which employs around a hundred young women from the village. Beni Ghreb is struggling to maintain its autonomy in a very fragile economic context. The emotion was palpable when the founder recalled that, thanks to the financial support of SIDI, and therefore of its shareholders, the community had overcome major crises such as drought, insect infestations, and above all the Covid crisis which had halted exports. “This project is life for Hazoua,” he insisted.

South Organic, another of SIDI’s partner date-packing and export SMEs, located in Kebili, some 100 km to the east, is also tackling the water issue with innovative solutions. South Organic works with 200 certified organic producers and employs just over 500 people, most of them women. Accompanied by the director and quality control manager, we visited their Al Wahaat pilot orchard, where the hydraulic engineer in charge of the project explained the irrigation system in place. This system drastically reduces water wastage by targeting the exact needs of crops, storing water, and alternating irrigation techniques according to the time of year. With this optimal water management, the crop stages under the date palms (legumes, arboriculture etc.) are re-established and can provide growers with additional income while promoting local biodiversity. The pilot orchard is open to all farmers in the region; they are invited to visit the plot and adopt these new techniques, thus amplifying its impact on a local scale.

A universal message

Each stage of this journey illustrated the strength of concrete and effective international solidarity. The projects encountered, whether in microfinance or sustainable agriculture, embodied the values that SIDI stands for: perseverance, solidarity and respect for people. For the participants, the trip not only enabled them to see the impact of their investments, but also to nurture their commitment to fairer, more sustainable development.