Pulse Financial Services Limited (PFSL), a Zambian deposit-taking microfinance institution (MFI), was recently rebranded as Entrepreneur Financial Centre (EFC). At a press briefing to announce the new name of the organization, EFC released plans to disburse loans totaling ZMK 65 billion (USD 12 million) to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the country this year. The firm will also consider the creation of a fund specifically for SMEs in the agriculture sector.
EFC Chief Executive Officer Claude LaFond reportedly argued that financial service providers need to extend their services to micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises in the country in order to contribute to “wealth creation, improvement of living conditions and development of the private sector.”
EFC reported total assets of ZMK 65 billion (USD 12.2 million) for 2011.
By Charlotte Newman, Research Associate
About Entrepreneur Financial Centre
Entrepreneur Financial Centre (EFC) is a Zambian deposit-taking microfinance institution licensed and supervised by Bank of Zambia. The MFI began as a project of CARE Zambia, an affiliate of the Switzerland-based nonprofit CARE International, in 1996 and later registered as Pulse Holdings Limited in 2001. It received a deposit-taking license from the Bank of Zambia in 2009, and became Pulse Financial Services Limited (PFSL) until the rebranding in 2012 to Entrepreneur Financial Centre. EFC’s mission is to increase the access of peri-urban and urban micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) to specialized financial services while contributing to wealth creation, improvement of living conditions and development of the Zambian private sector. EFC reported total assets of ZMK 22.1 billion (USD 4.2 million) for 2010.
Sources and Additional Resources:
Zambia Daily Mail: “Microfinance Critical for SMEs Growth,” http://www.daily-mail.co.zm/index.php/business/3964-micro-finance-critical-for-smes-growth
AllAfrica: “Zambia: Finance Firm to Disburse K65 Billion to Local SMEs,” http://allafrica.com/stories/201202220690.html
MicroCapital.org story, January 27, 2012, “MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MFTransparency Releases Microloan Pricing Data for Ghana, Zambia, Tanzania,” https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-mftransparency-releases-microloan-pricing-data-for-ghana-zambia-tanzania/
MicroCapital.org story, June 2, 2008, “MICROCAPITAL SPECIAL FEATURE: Survey of the Zambian Microfinance Sector,” https://www.microcapital.org/zambia-microfinance-survey-current-microlending-sector-environment/
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