A Microfinance Institution Offers Health Protection Services to Reach New Markets
This case study describes how Projet d'Appui au Développement des Microentreprise (PADME), an MFI in Bénin, responded to local health needs. PADME observed that because of the extreme poverty and widespread infectious disease in this region, a typical rural family spends at least one-third of its income on health, and the vast majority of the population lacks access to insurance. PADME sought to respond to the health and financial needs, and demands of its target clientele by providing microentrepreneurs with credit and education, while protecting its own financial sustainability as an MFI. PADMEs health protection service package includes:
- Credit with Education through village bank-based methodology of solidarity loans, combined with interactive education sessions on health topics such as malaria, childhood illnesses and HIV/AIDS;
- Distribution of affordable, high-quality health products to enable application of the health education, such as insecticide-treated mosquito nets, oral rehydration salts, and condoms;
- Feasibility study on offering health microinsurance for clients and their families.
PADME goal is to extend its microfinance services to more people in poor, rural areas. It recognizes that health can make or break such clients' ability to flourish, repay and remain good credit risks.
