Key issues

SPM helps microfinance institutions address the most important challenges they face today.

Microfinance’s main aim is to create positive change for clients – and help to lift them out of poverty. To achieve this, most microfinance institutions (MFIs) have traditionally focused on outreach and sustainability, without systematically trying to understand whether clients’ lives were improving.

As a result, there is a growing concern that microfinance has lost sight of its roots. Short of a new vision for the industry, there is every danger that this will turn into a loss of confidence and support from stakeholders, at the cost of millions of poor clients who depend on appropriate financial services to keep their families out of poverty.

In response, initiatives debates around access, responsible finance and transparency are gaining traction. The SPM agenda incorporates elements of all of these, but —importantly — also addresses how microfinance can make a positive difference in the lives of clients. In doing so, SPM helps MFIs to become social enterprises that deliberately manage both their social and financial goals.