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Catalyst Microfinance Investors (CMI) is a private equity fund that invests in high-potential microfinance institutions in Asia and Africa in order to support the provision of financial services to the poor.

Why We Invested

CMI is building a portfolio of emerging and fast-growing microfinance institutions (MFIs) throughout Asia and Africa in order to extend high-quality and affordable financial services to the poor. CMI was founded on the belief that providing much needed financial services to the poor can be efficient and profitable if the institutions that offer these services are properly managed and funded. By encouraging efficient, for-profit operations among its investees, CMI seeks to create and enable the next generation of market-leading, high-performing, and scalable microfinance institutions.

CMI’s core investment is ASA International, an international holding company that is establishing MFIs in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Ghana, and Nigeria. CMI is supported and managed by ASA of Bangladesh (ASA), which is widely recognized as one of the world’s largest and most successful MFIs. ASA has developed a model of microfinance that, due to its simplicity, standardization, and high level of decentralization, is easily scalable and exceptionally efficient. ASA has developed tailor-made financial services for its low-income clients, based strictly on commercial principles.

Impact

Operations as of December 31, 2008