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

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 MFI ALIDé, SIDI’s new partner in Benin.

SIDI’s development in West Africa

SIDI’s deployment in Benin is part of its development strategy.
The opening of SIDI’s regional office in Lomé, Togo, in 2023 will strengthen our proximity to our partners in West Africa and facilitate the creation of new partnerships.
This geographical proximity allows for greater flexibility in carrying out missions, including prospecting.
It was during one of these missions to Benin that SIDI forged ties with ALIDé, leading to this new partnership.

ALIDé, a partner aligned with SIDI in a difficult Beninese context

Thanks to its 17 points of service, including 10 branches and 85 agents, the ALIDé microfinance institution is working to improve the living conditions of vulnerable and low-income populations throughout Benin.
Founded in 2006, ALIDé currently serves some 50,000 customers, offering essential financial services.
This enables them to realize both personal and professional projects.
In 2022, ALIDé strengthened its social commitments around strong values as part of the revision of its social strategy.
The main commitment concerns women, with the aim of providing them with greater support to promote their social and economic inclusion.
Clear, measurable indicators have been defined for this purpose.
The Association supports projects in various sectors, including agriculture, through non-financial services and dedicated financial products.
This is an ambition that SIDI supports, in a general context of worsening risks in the agricultural sector and an economic situation impacted by strong political decisions at local level since 2023.
Indeed, developments in the political and economic situation in Benin are marked by a timid resumption of trade transactions with Niger (80% of transit through the port of Cotonou comes from Niger) despite the decision taken by ECOWAS member countries, including Benin, to resume trade with Niger and the reopening of borders with this country.
In addition, in 2023, government intervention in the setting of prices in certain sectors such as soya has had a slight impact on the smooth running of the campaign for some ALIDé producers. Thus, ALIDé’s work is essential both as a financier and, above all, as an advisor to guarantee the continuity of its members’ activities in a constantly changing environment.

Partnership objectives

The partnership between SIDI and ALIDé will have a dual dimension in line with SIDI’s strategy: financial contribution and technical support.
Several areas of intervention and areas of support have been identified to support the development of activities and the finalization of its digitization process initiated in 2018.
These areas will be defined and prioritized by mutual agreement between the association and SIDI.
This partnership will enable ALIDé to increase its medium-term financing capacity.
At the same time, it marks the return of SIDI’s activities in Benin, where it no longer had an active partnership at the end of 2023.
SIDI, always committed to long-term partnerships, intends to continue its deployment in this country, supporting players such as ALIDé who are committed to fulfilling their social mission.

Testimonial at the SIDI General Meeting: resilience and social impact of Financiera FDL

présentation Julio Flores AG SIDI

This year’s General Meeting was an opportunity for SIDI to invite one of its partners to testify. Julio Flores, Managing Director of Financiera FDL, came to present the activities of this microfinance institution (MFI) which operates in Nicaragua, the 2nd poorest country in Central America.

The fruitful exchanges between Julio Flores and SIDI shareholders continued the following morning with a question and answer session. This time allowed us to go into more detail about FFDL’s business and its formidable resilience in the face of crises.

The NGO Fondo de Desarrollo Local (FDL) was created in 1993 by the Jesuits, following the civil war. FDL’s aim is to improve the living conditions of the most vulnerable Nicaraguans by providing them with loans, training and support services to help them develop their businesses, at a time when banks are not interested in this group. Financiera FDL has become the first MFI in the country and one of the largest in Central America. The institution mainly targets low-income people, farmers, breeders and micro-entrepreneurs in peri-urban areas. Thanks to its 38 branches, La Financiera has a strong territorial coverage, enabling it to provide 70% of its loans in rural areas, to populations with little access to credit.

 

Financiera FDL and its resilience to crises.

FDL’s growth was first slowed by the crisis between 2008 and 2011. In addition to the global economic crisis, an anti-MFI “Movimiento del no pago” (non-payment movement) has developed. It has led to a decline in the number of customers and payment defaults in the microfinance sector. FDL, despite a decline in portfolio and customers of around 50%, managed to restructure, before creating, alongside the NGO, the financial company Financiera FDL (FFDL) in 2016. To structure this financial company, FDL has chosen “international partners who share its vision”. As a result, SIDI became a minority shareholder.

A second crisis affected the country from 2018 to 2021. Politico-social conflict (murderous repression by the authoritarian regime) and economic instability led to a three-year contraction in GDP. Mass migration (10% of the population fled the country) was caused by persecution of civil society, including the Church. The number of FFDL customers has plummeted. This recession and drop in activity were exacerbated by the Covid crisis. Several MFIs have gone bankrupt, while FFDL’s portfolio has once again shrunk by 50% (more than $6 million in losses in 2018 and 2019)

FFDL overcame a number of challenges in order to emerge from the crisis: renewing its customer base, consolidating its portfolio and building up reserves. To support it, SIDI participated in the recapitalization of FFDL and made a 5-year subordinated loan (total outstanding amount of over €1.7 million in 2023). This second acquisition brings SIDI’s stake in FFDL to 4.4%. Backed by the support of its international shareholders, FFDL was able to negotiate with lenders to maintain its credit lines.

FFDL has achieved a spectacular turnaround. The portfolio has been growing since the end of the crisis, with a forecast +12% in 2024, which will enable us to recover the $6 million in losses recorded in recent years. All this has been made possible by the serious management and expertise of the company’s management team.

 

FFDL, an MFI with a strong social and environmental impact.

Nicaragua is one of the countries most exposed to climate change. The economy is partly based on cattle farming (54% of agricultural land), and the deforestation rate is the second highest in Central America. These activities are highly polluting and destructive, while severe droughts reduce agricultural yields by 20 to 40%.

Over the years, the MFI has developed a comprehensive range of support services for producers and breeders in the transition to agro-ecology. Support for producers in agro-ecological practices focuses on themes such as water management or arboriculture combined with animal husbandry. This technical assistance is paid for in part or in full by FFDL, depending on the customer’s standard of living.

To improve producers’ incomes and reduce poverty, FFDL supports product processing, such as packaging coffee for export. This on-site processing of raw materials by producers creates added value, reduces the number of intermediaries and enables them to sell their produce at a higher price, guaranteeing local producers a better income.

FFDL seeks to maximize its impact, and the results are there. According to an independent survey partly financed by SIDI, in 2023, more than 60% of FFDL’s customers will report an improvement in their standard of living. The structure adapts its loan amounts and terms according to customers’ needs. It grants loans from 14 months on average (for traders and businesses) to 36 months for agricultural activities. This earned FFDL a Microfinance Index award in 2023. (see related article).

FFDL has demonstrated impressive resilience, while maintaining a strong social and environmental dimension, with a focus on financial inclusion in rural areas and environmental protection.

For Julio Flores, “although SIDI is a minority shareholder, it is very much involved in FFDL’s key moments. SIDI’s active participation in FFDL’s governance through the involvement of a volunteer consultant (on its Board of Directors) is decisive”.

Discover SIDI’s 2023 Social and Environmental Report

Partenariat et pse en 2023

The Social and Environmental Report brings together figures and data on the social and environmental performance of SIDI and the partners it supports. Each year, it is presented to SIDI shareholders at the Annual General Meeting.

Social and Environmental Performance (SEP) consists of measuring how an organization – SIDI, like its partners – puts its mission into practice and achieves its social and environmental objectives in relation to the populations it targets. It complements economic and financial performance.

SIDI’s PSE guides the team’s actions at every stage of the partnership, from partner selection to impact assessments. By 2023, we will be supporting 124 partners in 33 countries.

As part of its social mission, SIDI has set itself three main objectives:

  • Promoting economic equality
  • Promoting poverty reduction
  • Supporting the fight against climate change

These three major mission objectives are complemented by a cross-functional strategic axis: maximizing our additionality. SIDI’s additionality strategy is at the heart of its impact strategy. SIDI’s ability to create additionality with its partners is essential to generate a strong social and environmental impact.

Once again this year, SIDI is responding to this ambition through two types of action:

Intervene where other investors won’t, by targeting areas where the need for financing is greatest:

  • 62% of SIDI’s portfolio is invested in sub-Saharan Africa.
  • 68% of SIDI’s partners are located in low-HDI countries.
  • 79% of partners are located in high-risk countries.
  • 65% of partners target rural areas

Adapting our offer to the needs of our partners:

  • 35% of the portfolio in equity investments (compared with 15% for other microfinance vehicles)
  • Long-term partnerships and loan durations tailored to needs: 39 months on average for loans granted to microfinance institutions (compared with only 29 months for other microfinance vehicles).
  • Financing amounts adapted to the size of partners: SIDI in particular has the capacity to offer smaller tickets (for example, 402 k€ on average for agricultural entities when other lenders offer an average of 990 k€).
  • A comprehensive range of support services: SIDI’s partnership approach is based on the complementary nature of financing and support.

 

SIDI favours structures with a strong social and environmental impact, mainly rural or mixed microfinance institutions, and agricultural entities that are mainly certified organic and fair trade. Their social vision is aligned with that of SIDI. It supports them in achieving their own social and environmental objectives, which in turn contribute to SIDI’s objectives.

 

Find all the data compiled in Bilan Social et Environnemental 2023

Discover the report

SIDI acquires a stake in ACEP Burkina

[chapeau]SIDI acquires a 20% stake in ACEP Burkina by purchasing the shares of the Incofin CVSO fund.[/chapeau]

Today, ACEP Burkina is the second largest microfinance institution (MFI) in Burkina Faso by portfolio size and reach: over 32,000 active customers, 23% of whom are women, and more than 15,000 borrowers. It focuses mainly on micro, small and medium-sized businesses.

Through this acquisition, SIDI wishes to strengthen its commitment to the development of inclusive finance in Africa and more particularly in the Sahel region. Given the multiple challenges facing the region – political and security issues, the impact of climate change on the agricultural sector, lack of employment opportunities particularly for young people – SIDI considers it a priority to develop its activities in the area in order to achieve its mission of social and environmental transition.

SIDI is currently working with 9 partners in Burkina Faso in a wide variety of sectors: inclusive finance, sustainable agricultural value chains, renewable energies and seed capital for small-scale industries that create jobs and added value. In Burkina Faso, 40% of the population still lives below the poverty line.

Becoming a shareholder of ACEP Burkina is a strong commitment on the part of SIDI and an opportunity to strengthen and diversify its activities in the country by including in its portfolio one of the leading and strong MFIs in the financial inclusion market. SIDI will therefore play an active role in governance to help strengthen the institution and promote social and environmental performance alongside financial and operational viability.

Read the press release here

 

View the webinar on partner support

[chapeau]You can watch or re-watch this new edition of Les Témoins en Actes webinar on support, the cornerstone of the solidarity investor’s mission.[/chapeau]

The webinar featured Abdou-Rasmané OUEDRAOGO, Managing Director of Union des Baoré Tradition d’Epargne et de Crédit (UBTEC). UBTEC is a microfinance institution that operates mainly in rural areas of northern Burkina Faso, in the Sahelian zone, while maintaining a strong peasant base thanks to the fact that it was founded by Burkina Faso’s main peasant federation.

SIDI’s General Manager, in dialogue with SIDI’s partnership manager, came to talk about the relationship forged with SIDI to support farmers in the Ecological and Social Transition. Support from the ACTES Foundation has made it possible to finance and support the agro-ecological practices of UBTEC members.

SIDI’s strategic plan unveiled

This issue of Carnets de la SIDI is devoted entirely to the main conclusions of the analysis of SIDI’s 2017-2021 strategic plan.

This analysis was carried out jointly by the team and the governing bodies, and also included an in-depth survey of the partners, who were invited to anonymously assess the team’s achievements over the past five years, providing SIDI with a demanding mirror on its actions.

Indeed, SIDI must be objective about the effects of its mission, all the more so as it implements a financial solidarity made possible by the conscious commitment of its stakeholders. This is why SIDI analyses its support to partners honestly and transparently, and checks that this analysis corresponds to their perception.

This notebook gives an idea of all the work we’ve done, particularly in support of the Ecological and Social Transition (TES). Over the past five years, we have shown that this is a fundamental issue for our partners, as we prepare for current and future ecological shocks.

Enjoy your reading!

 

cover page notebook n°15

Click on the image to consult the Carnet