Pakistan: Widening Harmonized Access to Microfinance (WHAM)

This report presents the evaluation of Widening Harmonized Access to Microfinance (WHAM), a USAID project in Pakistan. The objective of WHAM was to improve financial access for customers not served by credit granting NGOs, commercial banks or small specialized banks. It focused on enterprises belonging to the financial “"missing middle”", with a credit demand between USD 500 and USD 25,000. The report is based on the final assessment of WHAM and summarizes results in each of the ten primary themes addressed by the evaluation. The report concludes with recommendations for USAID for further work if it maintains focus on finance projects. These include:

• Defining the boundaries of market segments in which activities will be applied;
• Considering a time frame of not less than five years for projects to build institutional capacities of micro and small enterprise finance providers;
• Defining performance indicators and targets for entities benefiting from technical assistance and training;
• Commissioning studies on opportunities and constraints for interventions targeting poor women and on demand for services other than micro loans.