Author: jorgen.muylaert

We present you Maria Alexandra from Ecuadorian Banco de Loja in this new episode of Incofin’s series on inspiring women. Incofin strives for more gender equality. First and foremost, because it is the right thing to do. And also because companies with a gender-balanced leadership outperform those that are less balanced.
That is why we started with an #InspiringWomen-series: we are introducing you to some of the most inspirational women Incofin works with. Women in leadership positions in often male-dominated contexts. 

 

Maria Alexandra, Head of the Finance, Banco de Loja in Ecuador

Maria Alexandra is leading the finance department of Banco de Loja in Ecuador. From the very beginning, she experienced support from her parents to pursue her education and professional goals. Thanks to their support and her own perseverance, she earned a double degree in Economics and Law, and later a master’s degree in Finance.

Throughout her career, Maria was always keen to expand her professional knowledge and understanding of various fields, including the stock market, leadership and business. She worked in various roles, among them in the cooperative sector focusing on microfinance lending. Her achievements did not go unnoticed and in 2017, she was invited to join the team at Banco de Loja in Ecuador, where she is now part of a group made up of 80% women.

Maria is convinced that finance for women is an important driver of the economy and that women have a crucial role in the market. She hopes that she sets an example for others and that she contributed to pave the way for more opportunities for women to succeed and thrive.

“As women leading teams in the financial system, we must seize the opportunity to create doors and opportunities for new generations of women. By taking on challenges and leveraging on women’s innate soft skills, such as empathy and collaboration, it is possible to grow professionally and make meaningful contributions to communities and to future generations of women.”

 

Bianca Lethanh, Secretary General of MicroCred in China

Bianca has made a career in industries heavily dominated by men: engineering and finance. She encountered many situations where she was the only women at the table. “Of course you feel treated or assessed differently when you are the only woman and younger than the other people in the room. But you learn to get past it. Many women who have reached senior positions have experienced this. Learn to be self aware and be sure of what you know, your worth and your value. Keep your course and do your job. At least I feel that this has now changed for the better for women.”

When Bianca began her career 20 years ago full of ambition, she drew some inspiration in building her leadership from the models she saw from male leaders in civil engineering, the world in which she was active at the time, but she also looked for female examples in other industries. “I sought for access to women’s networks. There I found mentors who guided me on my path. It is so helpful to be able to tap into your own network, to have a sounding board to understand what you want to do, where you want to go, it is a resource to learn from your mistakes and put important lessons in your backpack.”

For Bianca, such networks where female leadership can be encouraged and further developed is crucial not only for women with professional ambitions, but at least as much for strengthening businesses and enriching society. For her, female leadership offers indispensable benefits. “Female leadership can incorporate decision-making by consensus, collaborative thinking, power sharing and transparency.”

 

Raushan Kurbanaliyeva, Chair of Arnur Credit in Kazakhstan

Mrs. Raushan Kurbanaliyeva has many years of experience in the financial sector. For the last 15 years, she has been successfully managing one of the largest microfinance organisations in Kazakhstan.

She graduated from the Kazakh State Academy of Management with a degree in Economic and Social Planning. She obtained an MBA degree – Master of Business Administration at the Almaty Management University. She holds certificates as CAP, USAID / CAMFA II “Financial services for rural areas and agriculture”.

“To achieve success, a woman must set ambitious goals for herself and divide them into sub-goals for successful and consistent implementation. At the same time, it is very important that the goals are always in harmony with true desires, and then success is guaranteed. I, as a leader, and as a woman, in the implementation of certain goals, as a rule, pay great attention to the social orientation. So, it is very important for me to implement the social mission of our company – to promote the development of small businesses of clients, create new jobs, prevent over-crediting and increase in debt burden.”

Raushan also has a long experience as a member of the Board of Directors. She is a member of the Board of Directors in the Microfinance Association of Kazakhstan, an independent member of the Board of Directors at JSC Shardarinskaya WPP; and a member of the Board of Directors at MFIs in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.

“Women leaders need constant self-improvement and development of competencies, maintaining a balance between family values ​​and business. Therefore, it is very important to be able to properly manage your time.”

Raushan herself is married and is the mother of three children.

 

Roshaneh Zafar,Founder and Managing Director of Kashf Foundation in Pakistan

As CEO of Kashf Foundation, Roshaneh Zafar fights everyday to empower women entrepreneurs and helps them free themselves and their families from the stifling effect of poverty in a country where gender equality scores very low. Only 1 out of 4 women have a job in Pakistan.

Roshaneh stresses the importance of the context for gender equality. She feels she owes it largely to her liberal-minded parents that she was able to walk the path she did and that she was able to move after secondary school to the United States to study. “But most girls from my community stayed in Pakistan in that time, which was the beginning of the nineties. The parents of most of my friends didn’t allow them to continue to study. Many of them could have become excellent scientists, engineers, doctors or economists. They could have contributed to the solutions needed for the larger questions in life. They never got that chance. I am privileged and grateful for the chances I have been given.”

After finishing secondary school in Lahore, Roshaneh moved to the United States to attend the Business School in Wharton. She holds also a Master in Development Economics at Yale University. She started her career at the World Bank. After four years, she gave up the job to start something on her own. Inspired by Muhammed Yunus’ Grameen Bank, she founded Kashf.

 

Daisy Achieng, CFO of Yehu in Kenya

Daisy Achieng has been Yehu’s CFO in Kenya since 2020. Driven by her acuity for details and constant search for new knowledge to hone her expertise, she helped achieve Yehu financial sustainability by installing a remarkable financial discipline.

Daisy is a hardworking, talented woman with a plan. She started very early in her career as a leader. Great mentorship in school and later on, which she labeled as a sisterhood, supported her tremendously on her path. “Whenever I faced a challenge, I could always discuss it with people in my network”, she says.

She also stresses the importance of an open, supportive corporate culture that she finds at Yehu. Furthermore, a woman leader should focus on her self-awareness. “To succeed as a woman in a leadership role, you should develop a personal brand for yourself and establish guidelines that will help you achieve your goals. Building a personal brand requires self-awareness and integrity: self-awareness helps you identify your strengths and weaknesses, and work on them. Integrity focuses on your core values and how you relate to your work.”

This coupled with effective communication will help a leader build a personal brand and achieve the aspired goals. Integrity is an equally important guideline for Daisy.

Daisy is a certified public accountant and holds a degree in Commerce with a focus on Finance.

 

Fatou Dieng, the CFO Crédit Mutuel Sénégal (CMS).

Fatou Dieng has been the CFO of CMS Senegal for over a year now, after doing the same job for PAMECAS. She has more than 20 years of experience in the microfinance sector.

Although Fatou notes that in Senegal women are usually recognized for their capabilities, for example their multitasking skills, as a woman professionally, she often stood alone in a male-dominated environment. And yet successfully. After a Master in Audit, she started her career in 1998 as an accountant and climbed up rapidly. She held several management positions: Finance and Accounting Director, Audit Director in different types of organisations, ranging from a consulting firm, to financial cooperatives, and many others.

“My advice to women is to believe in themselves and in their capacities, and to work hard to achieve their goals. Women seeking leadership roles need to be confident, rigorous and resilient in their work. They should also guard independence in their decision-making.”

 

 

 

07/03/2023

Incofin announces it has held a successful final closing for its India Progress Fund (IPF). Investors entrusted USD 77 million of capital to continue investing in the Indian rural economy focusing on financial inclusion and the agri-food value chain, two sectors which make the deepest social impact in the country.

Incofin launched the private equity fund in the summer of 2021 to build upon Incofin’s decade long strong Indian footprint with successful growth capital investments. The final investor base is comprised of a diverse set of private and institutional investors including Korys, British International Investment (BII), Proparco, The Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries (BIO Invest), the SDG Frontier Fund, the King Baudoin Foundation, several Belgian family offices and since recently also the Indian development bank and Fund of Funds SIDBI.

The Indian economy will continue to be one of the fastest growing economies in the world in the next few years and the funds wants to support promising entrepreneurs who create tangible and sustainable impact through patient capital, mentoring and access to a global network. The fund is already off to a strong start, with almost half of the fund invested in innovative companies such as MSME finance company Namdev, technology-focused supply chain company SuperZop, agrofintech company Unnati and India’s largest fruit and vegetable platform Sayhadri Farms. IPF’s latest investment was in Mufin Green, financial services provider for Electric Vehicles.

09/02/2023

Work of a long haul: promoting female leadership in fair trade coffee in DRC Congo

Making real progress on gender equality on the ground is more than simply counting the number of female clients. It is about changing a mindset. Since gender norms are deeply embedded in society and the local cultural context, a deeper field expertise is indispensable. Technical assistance is a valuable way to clear the path. Although changing mindsets is a work of a long haul, Incofin’s partner organization SOPACDI, a coffee cooperative in DRC, is willing to go the extra mile to promote female leadership in a male-dominant cultural context.   

SOPACDI (Solidarité pour la Promotion des Actions Café et le Développement Intégral) is a coffee processing and exporting cooperative located in North Kivu, DRC. Founded in 2006, the institution is recognized as the first and most longstanding Fairtrade certified cooperative in the country. Its outreach is quite significant as it gathers 11.768 producers including 30% of women, all of whom are Fairtrade and Organic certified.  

SOPACDI and Incofin joined forces and launched a year ago a project to work on more gender inclusivity among coffee producers. That is why Incofin invited an expert in this area into the project: Trias is a Belgian NGO with successful experiences with similar projects in Africa. Both SOPACDI and the Fairtrade Access Fund TA Facility allocated the necessary budget for this Technical Assistance project.

“SOPACDI wanted to organize these trainings to help its members, both men and women, understand that gender should not be an obstacle for women to play the same roles in social life as men, because there was always this tendency to believe that women would be inferior to men because of their skills.” – Masumbuko Maheshe Neema, Vice President of the Board of SOPACDI

46 producers, including 27 women, participated in workshops on female leadership. After the trainers of TRIAS introduced some basic concepts about gender equality, the floor was open to the farmers.  

“The main objective is to stimulate women’s leadership. We encouraged women to take up responsibility and to encourage other women as well. We noticed a recovery of women’s self-confidence and they started to express themselves freely.” – Lavilé Zoumanigui, Program Coordinator TRIAS

The women raised their concerns and grievances around the poor distribution of family income, which is appropriated by men; how men generally hold women responsible if the children are poorly educated; the fact that women do not receive the same income as men in the premium distributions in the coffee buying committees.  

“We learned what gender differences used to mean compared to nowadays. In a company, for example, there is no function or job only for men and women, all can do the same job if they are capable. This is different to how it was in the past, especially within our families, where there was food for men that women were not allowed to eat, housework just for girls for example, within the religion, women could not preach in a church, which is not the case today. Some men still cultivate a toxic masculinity and hide the fear for more gender balance behind religion and societal customs.”  – Celine Nsimire Mweze

Many men in the room felt that the notion of gender encourages women to rebel and disobey and can cause problems within the family, and even within the cooperative. TRIAS showed them through examples that women willing to take on more leadership responsibilities was not against them could rather work in their favor. Although sometimes difficult, these sessions led both men and women to dare to question traditional ideas. By starting the conversation, men began to feel less threatened by women stepping up and voicing their concerns and started to understand the obstacles that keep women from reaching their full potential.  

“These teachings helped us to understand that the difference is only biological and that socially and professionally, men and women can assume the same functions at any level. My personal perception has completely changed.” – Shamavu Ngushu Manasseh

Currently, SOPACDI has included some articles in its statutes that clarify that members are equal regardless of gender and have the same rights and obligations within the cooperative. It is a first step towards more gender equality, but the process for real change does not end there.  

“At Incofin, we are thrilled by the opportunity to support our clients in their actions towards gender equality. We realize this is work of a long haul and we will follow up the progress in the SOPACDI communities.” – Samuel Kariuki, Investment Manager for Incofin

 

24/01/2023
We present you in this new episode of Incofin’s series on inspiring women the Secretary General of the Chinese microfinance institution MicroCred, Bianca Lethanh. Incofin strives for more gender equality. First and foremost, because it is the right thing to do. And also because companies with a gender-balanced leadership outperform those that are less balanced.
That is why we started with an #InspiringWomen-series: we are introducing you to some of the most inspirational women Incofin works with. Women in leadership positions in often male-dominated contexts. 

Bianca Lethanh, Secretary General of MicroCred, China

Bianca has made a career in industries heavily dominated by men: engineering and finance. She encountered many situations where she was the only women at the table. “Of course you feel treated or assessed differently when you are the only woman and younger than the other people in the room. But you learn to get past it. Many women who have reached senior positions have experienced this. Learn to be self aware and be sure of what you know, your worth and your value. Keep your course and do your job. At least I feel that this has now changed for the better for women.”

When Bianca began her career 20 years ago full of ambition, she drew some inspiration in building her leadership from the models she saw from male leaders in civil engineering, the world in which she was active at the time, but she also looked for female examples in other industries. “I sought for access to women’s networks. There I found mentors who guided me on my path. It is so helpful to be able to tap into your own network, to have a sounding board to understand what you want to do, where you want to go, it is a resource to learn from your mistakes and put important lessons in your backpack.”

For Bianca, such networks where female leadership can be encouraged and further developed is crucial not only for women with professional ambitions, but at least as much for strengthening businesses and enriching society. For her, female leadership offers indispensable benefits. “Female leadership can incorporate decision-making by consensus, collaborative thinking, power sharing and transparency.”

 

Raushan Kurbanaliyeva, Chair of Arnur Credit in Kazakhstan

Mrs. Raushan Kurbanaliyeva has many years of experience in the financial sector. For the last 15 years, she has been successfully managing one of the largest microfinance organisations in Kazakhstan.

She graduated from the Kazakh State Academy of Management with a degree in Economic and Social Planning. She obtained an MBA degree – Master of Business Administration at the Almaty Management University. She holds certificates as CAP, USAID / CAMFA II “Financial services for rural areas and agriculture”.

“To achieve success, a woman must set ambitious goals for herself and divide them into sub-goals for successful and consistent implementation. At the same time, it is very important that the goals are always in harmony with true desires, and then success is guaranteed. I, as a leader, and as a woman, in the implementation of certain goals, as a rule, pay great attention to the social orientation. So, it is very important for me to implement the social mission of our company – to promote the development of small businesses of clients, create new jobs, prevent over-crediting and increase in debt burden.”

Raushan also has a long experience as a member of the Board of Directors. She is a member of the Board of Directors in the Microfinance Association of Kazakhstan, an independent member of the Board of Directors at JSC Shardarinskaya WPP; and a member of the Board of Directors at MFIs in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.

“Women leaders need constant self-improvement and development of competencies, maintaining a balance between family values ​​and business. Therefore, it is very important to be able to properly manage your time.”

Raushan herself is married and is the mother of three children.

 

Roshaneh Zafar,Founder and Managing Director of Kashf Foundation in Pakistan

As CEO of Kashf Foundation, Roshaneh Zafar fights everyday to empower women entrepreneurs and helps them free themselves and their families from the stifling effect of poverty in a country where gender equality scores very low. Only 1 out of 4 women have a job in Pakistan.

Roshaneh stresses the importance of the context for gender equality. She feels she owes it largely to her liberal-minded parents that she was able to walk the path she did and that she was able to move after secondary school to the United States to study. “But most girls from my community stayed in Pakistan in that time, which was the beginning of the nineties. The parents of most of my friends didn’t allow them to continue to study. Many of them could have become excellent scientists, engineers, doctors or economists. They could have contributed to the solutions needed for the larger questions in life. They never got that chance. I am privileged and grateful for the chances I have been given.”

After finishing secondary school in Lahore, Roshaneh moved to the United States to attend the Business School in Wharton. She holds also a Master in Development Economics at Yale University. She started her career at the World Bank. After four years, she gave up the job to start something on her own. Inspired by Muhammed Yunus’ Grameen Bank, she founded Kashf.

 

Daisy Achieng, CFO of Yehu in Kenya

Daisy Achieng has been Yehu’s CFO in Kenya since 2020. Driven by her acuity for details and constant search for new knowledge to hone her expertise, she helped achieve Yehu financial sustainability by installing a remarkable financial discipline.

Daisy is a hardworking, talented woman with a plan. She started very early in her career as a leader. Great mentorship in school and later on, which she labeled as a sisterhood, supported her tremendously on her path. “Whenever I faced a challenge, I could always discuss it with people in my network”, she says.

She also stresses the importance of an open, supportive corporate culture that she finds at Yehu. Furthermore, a woman leader should focus on her self-awareness. “To succeed as a woman in a leadership role, you should develop a personal brand for yourself and establish guidelines that will help you achieve your goals. Building a personal brand requires self-awareness and integrity: self-awareness helps you identify your strengths and weaknesses, and work on them. Integrity focuses on your core values and how you relate to your work.”

This coupled with effective communication will help a leader build a personal brand and achieve the aspired goals. Integrity is an equally important guideline for Daisy.

Daisy is a certified public accountant and holds a degree in Commerce with a focus on Finance.

 

Fatou Dieng, the CFO Crédit Mutuel Sénégal (CMS).

Fatou Dieng has been the CFO of CMS Senegal for over a year now, after doing the same job for PAMECAS. She has more than 20 years of experience in the microfinance sector.

Although Fatou notes that in Senegal women are usually recognized for their capabilities, for example their multitasking skills, as a woman professionally, she often stood alone in a male-dominated environment. And yet successfully. After a Master in Audit, she started her career in 1998 as an accountant and climbed up rapidly. She held several management positions: Finance and Accounting Director, Audit Director in different types of organisations, ranging from a consulting firm, to financial cooperatives, and many others.

“My advice to women is to believe in themselves and in their capacities, and to work hard to achieve their goals. Women seeking leadership roles need to be confident, rigorous and resilient in their work. They should also guard independence in their decision-making.”

 

12/12/2022

Incofin’s exit is the first exit of the agRIF fund and has resulted in an attractive return on investment for Incofin. agRIF, Incofin’s fund focusing on financial inclusion in the agricultural value chain, entered the capital of Inecobank in 2018. In total, agRIF has invested about USD 70 million in 11 companies. The founders of Inecobank are acquiring the shares of Incofin.

Inecobank, founded in 1996, is one of the leading banks in Armenia, with more than 600,000 customers. It is the market leader in POS lending as well as in mobile/online banking solutions. It consistently ranks among the most profitable banks in the country.

Jan Dewijngaert, Director Private Equity at Incofin commented: “Inecobank and Incofin enjoy a long and fruitful relationship, both through debt products and equity. During the nearly five years that agRIF has been shareholder, Inecobank has shown remarkable growth, increasing its client reach by nearly 50%, and thereby strengthening its profile in impact investing. The bank has an excellent leadership team that managed to boost profitability even in the difficult context of the past few years. This deal also demonstrates that even in today’s challenging times, successful equity divestments are possible.”

 Legelata Law Firm in Armenia acted as legal advisor to agRIF for this transaction.

29/11/2022

Belgian market leader in impact financing and investments, Incofin, supports the impact sector’s initiatives to double the number of Belgian impact investments in less than five years. The creation of a new institute, the publication of a study and now the Belgian Impact Day coming Wednesday in Brussels all underscore the ambitions of the sector in Belgium.  

A study mapping the Belgian impact finance market for the very first time, found out that between 6 and 16 billion euros are invested in impact finance in Belgium – 1 to 2.5% of total assets under management. With more than 1.4 billion euros, Incofin is the market leader in Belgium. In Belgium, there is room for an acceleration. The study predicts that within three to five years, impact financing will take up 30 billion of assets under management in Belgium. Incofin already formulated its ambition to double its portfolio in five years at the beginning of 2022. The entire sector is now gearing up for growth in the coming years.

A consortium of eight Belgian organisations active in impact financing King Baudouin Foundation, Incofin, SFPIM, Solifin, Impact Capital, BIO, Kois and the Foundation for Future Generation joined forces.

Co-initiator of Impact Finance Belgium and Chairman of Incofin, Loic De Cannière confides that “It was time to combine efforts among impact players and convince investors and politicians of the need for a growing impact movement in Belgium. We cannot rely on governments and public money alone to solve the challenges facing our planet. Let’s use this great tool that is impact investing. Incofin will continue to play its pioneering role in this.”

These eight impact organisations have created a new institute, Impact Finance Belgium. And they are organising the upcoming Belgian Impact Day, an inspiring event that will gather hundreds of Belgian investors, policy makers, financial institutions and entrepreneurs.

28/11/2022