Urwego community banking - Rwanda

URWEGO offered its first loans in July 1997 to Rwanda's economically active poor. After 9 years of rapid growth, URWEGO has emerged as the premier Microfinance Institute (MFI). We use proven methodology in Rwanda and we serve 21,241 active clients and their families through access to credit and savings facilities as well as training. These clients compose 560 Community Banks and 54 Solidarity Groups and we operate in eleven of Rwanda's twelve former provinces. Eighty-six percent of URWEGO's clients are female. URWEGO was named "Best MFI in Rwanda" in the 2004 "Year of Microfinance" through a joint assessment by the government of Rwanda, the United Nations, and Harvard University.

Mission:

To alleviate poverty in Rwanda in the name of Jesus Christ. Loosely translated, the Kinyarwandan word "URWEGO" means ladder and the aim is to help our clients "Climbing the Ladder of Economic Empowerment."

Vision:

URWEGO strives to become a financially self-sufficient institution, with an outreach that is broad, deep and significant in impact on poor people's lives.

Where We Work:

URWEGO currently operates in all five of the new administrative regions. Expansion plans are underway to cover all the new administrative districts that are not currently covered, especially those in the western and southern region. See the chart below for our specific locations.