Five years ago, Victoria Kisyombe was a government veterinary officer working in rural Tanzania. Today, she runs Sero Lease and Finance Limited, a microlease provider with over 5,000 clients.
"Sero Lease and Finance enables women entrepreneurs to acquire equipment such as water pumps, sewing machines, millers, and small generators. The majority of our clients have been able to meet their commitments, proving that lending to women can be both safe and profitable clients," said Mrs. Kisyombe.
In February 2007, IFC, through a local client bank, provided a $1 million loan to Sero Lease and Finance that will see the microleasing firm expand services to reach more than 30,000 clients by 2010.
Using its financial products and advisory services, IFC is promoting the leasing industry in Tanzania by supporting financial institutions like Sero Lease and Finance. IFC’s leasing development work has helped to double Tanzania’s leasing market to more than $42 million in the last two years.
"By promoting leasing as an alternative form of financing, IFC is helping to increase access to finance for entrepreneurs like Mrs. Kisyombe, thereby creating further opportunities for thousands of smaller businesspeople," says Rachel Freeman, deputy general manager IFC Private Enterprise Partnership for Africa, IFC’s regional advisory services arm.
IFC is currently running similar leasing development programs in other parts of Africa, in Ghana, Rwanda and Madagascar. The programs address the enabling environment and support the growth of leasing through regulatory advocacy activities, targeted investment promotion, and public awareness campaigns.
In Ghana, IFC has successfully organized training and sensitization activities on leasing for the financial sector, the judiciary, and the wider public. IFC is developing proposals to support the government’s ongoing efforts to revise the leasing laws. IFC has also actively sought further private sector investment in the leasing sector. As a result of these efforts, Oikocredit, a major funder of microfinance institutions worldwide, will soon start financing leasing companies and banks seeking lines for leasing in Ghana.
In March 2007, IFC announced a $100,000 equity investment in BNI-Leasing, a private sector leasing company in Madagascar and a subsidiary of BNI-Madagascar, an existing IFC client.
The BNI-Leasing project falls under the International Development Association-IFC micro, small and medium enterprise project for Madagascar, which will provide up to a 50 percent guarantee to a portfolio of new loans to small and medium enterprises in the country. Under the project, IFC has been advising the Malagasy government on establishing the legal and regulatory framework for the leasing industry.
For more information contact:
Daniel Musiitwa
Communications Officer
Johannesburg, South Africa
Tel: +27 11 731 3174
Email: dmusiitwa@ifc.org
