CIDR and Pamiga Merger

• CIDR (Centre International de Développement et de Recherche) and Pamiga (Participatory Microfinance Group for Africa) announced their merger this January 2020.
• The new entity named CIDR Pamiga will work to provide technical assistance and microfinance funding in Sub-Saharan Africa.
•  CIDR is based in France but lists Sub-Saharan Africa as its regional focus.
•  Pamiga operates in 10 Sub-Saharan African countries namely Bénin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Mali, Sénégal, Ivory Coast, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, Chad, Togo, Morocco, Tunisia.
• No financial details of the merger were publicly disclosed.

Sub-Saharan Africa Microfinance

• The Inclusive Fintech 50 List presents 16 fintech companies focused on improving financial inclusion through microfinance in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2019.
• These include Awamo, Inclusivity Solutions, and Matontine among others.
•  Finextra reports that mobile money is one of the drivers of financial inclusion in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2018.
• The joint Partnership for Financial Inclusion has worked with 14 microfinance companies to achieve universal financial access in the region.
•  Borgen Project reported in 2018 that the microfinance industry in broader Africa has reached a gross loan portfolio of $8.5 billion.
• Africa has also developed one of the fastest-growing bases for microfinance institutions.