YEHU MICROFINANCE
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Website: http://www.yehu.org
Background: Yehu Microfinance Trust’s mission is to empower rural socio-economically marginalized entrepreneurs through enhanced accessibility to sustainable financial services. Yehu was founded in 1998 as project of Choice Humanitarian Kenya to mobilize member savings. After experiencing significant growth following the launch of their microcredit loan product, Yehu became an independent organization called Yehu Microfinance Trust in 2007.
Yehu is widely recognized for reaching deep rural areas of coastal Kenya that are largely unserved by competitors. Kenya is one of the poorest countries in the world; it ranks 148th out of 177 countries in the UNDP’s Human Development Index. Nearly 58% of the population (23 million people) lives on under $2 per day and an estimated 79% of Kenyans live in rural locales.
Leadership: Since joining Yehu as CEO in August 2006, Adet Kachi has demonstrated a tremendous ability to increase the capacity of the organization and drive positive change. Kachi was instrumental in increasing client outreach in 2007 by 40% and helped build an inclusive governing structure that incorporates client representation on the Board of Trustees.
Before working at Yehu, Kachi was the Acting General Manager Women’s Finance House Botswanaa, a rural MFI in Botswana. He holds a B.Sc. in Agriculture from the University of Nairobi, a post graduate Diploma in Business Management from Kenya Institute of Management, an MBA from De Montfort University, and a Diploma in Entrepreneurship from Galilee International College. Originally from Kenya, Kachi has lived most of his life in the Coast Province where Yehu works.
Product offerings and clientele: While most MFIs and banks working in the Coast Province offer larger loan sizes not appropriate for poor clients, Yehu’s product offerings and operational model are specifically designed to serve the rural poor. Yehu primarily serves women who are entrepreneurial and socio-economically marginalized, and whose families live on less than $2 per day.
Yehu currently offers four products based on a group-lending methodology, with the average loan size being $122 (in 2008). In addition to their core rural business loan, Yehu launched three new innovate loan products in 2008 to better meet the needs of their rural clientele, including a “meat goat loan” targeted to traders who purchase goats and later resell them in urban markets.
Demonstrating their commitment to sustainable client success, Yehu provides loan insurance to protect group members’ liability in the case of a borrower death, severe accident or illness which prevents their ability to repay. Each loan product also has a compulsory savings requirement which helps the micro-entrepreneurs earn interest and establish a savings balance while they are paying back their microcredit loan.
Highlights and growth strategy: Yehu’s strong leadership and deep expertise in reaching marginalized rural clients has positioned it for solid growth in the coming years. Its unique operational model will be pivotal in its expansion plans. Yehu applies a sub-branch model, in which loan officers live and work in smaller “sub-branches” located in villages 1-2 hours outside the main branches. This helps them overcome the long and costly geographical challenges of serving rural clients and enables them to offer friendly, accessible customer service.
Unitus worked with Yehu in early 2009 to facilitate a strategic planning process and assist with investment preparedness designed to catalyze Yehu's growth. Unitus is working with Yehu to assess their information technology (IT) needs, select a new management information system (MIS), and improve operational efficiency, enabling the organization to streamline processes and lower product delivery costs. By end-of-year 2011, Yehu aims to have 29,000 borrowers, more than tripling their portfolio in three years.
Meet a Yehu client: Fatuma Anawari, a single mother of three, is a successful micro-entrepreneur whose life was transformed by a simple $20 loan.
*Yehu was founded in 1998 to mobilize member savings. Their first microcredit loan product was given in 2000. In 2007, they became an independent organization called Yehu Microfinance Trust.
