MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Via Atlas, CGAP Begins Releasing Results from Biweekly “Pulse” Survey of Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) on COVID-19 Impact

In an effort to understand the needs of microfinance institutions (MFIs) and their clients during the COVID-19 pandemic, the US-based NGO CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor) recently launched a biweekly survey called the “Global Pulse Survey of Microfinance Institutions.” CGAP is releasing the results on the Atlas data platform, which is a service of Italy-based MFR (MicroFinanza Rating), in the form of 13 charts. These charts can be manipulated to group the data by Region, Subregion, Charter Type, Lending Methodology and Gender Focus as well as size of MFI, whether the MFI is regulated and the time period of the data. The charts cover various measures of delinquency, change in delinquency, perception of the state of the sector in the MFI’s country and organization-wide data such as debt-to-equity ratio.

For responding MFIs deemed “large,” the 30-day portfolio-at-risk ratio (PAR30) is 7 percent, while it is approximately 5.5 percent for small MFIs. PAR30 is the highest (10 percent) in Sub-Saharan Africa, while MFIs in the Middle East and North Africa reported the highest growth in that metric (over 112 percent). MFIs also rated the condition of the “microfinance sector in your country” on a scale of 0 to 10, with five indicating “real stress” and 10 meaning “looming disaster.” MFIs in each region responded with an average answer of at least five.

CGAP CEO Greta Bull maintains that “a global rapid response survey like this is the best way to build a more comprehensive picture of what is happening in the field across geographies and institutional types.… Though many microfinance institutions are already inundated with survey requests, they can get a lot out of participating in this survey: reliable benchmarking against various averages, a deeper understanding how the crisis is evolving to inform their strategic planning, and a chance to make support from funders and policy makers more effective.” The survey is designed to take approximately 15 minutes for MFI staff to complete.

Based in the US city of Washington, CGAP is a think tank that partners with 30 development organizations. The NGO conducts research and tests “innovative solutions,” assisting with the development of inclusive financial systems, particularly for women. In this work, CGAP seeks to emphasize “income generation,” “essential services” and “protecting basic standards of living.” For the 2019 fiscal year, CGAP reported donor contributions of USD 24.5 million. The organization is co-located with the offices of the World Bank Group.

Atlas provides data on approximately 3,000 financial service providers (FSPs) in 134 countries. It presents this data via charts and heatmaps on topics including “pricing, client protection, social and financial performance.” In addition to Atlas, MFR offers services such as performing financial and social ratings of MFIs. The company has one field office in Kenya, two in Asia and four in Latin America.

By Jessica McLeod, Research Associate

Sources and Additional Resources

CGAP news release
https://www.cgap.org/news/cgap-launches-global-microfinance-survey-inform-covid-19-response

Pulse survey results via Atlas
https://www.atlasdata.org/results

CGAP description of the survey, including the data points collected and frequency thereof
https://www.cgap.org/sites/default/files/FAQ_Documents/CGAP-Pulse-Survey-Indicators-AllWaves-English.pdf

CGAP homepage
https://www.cgap.org/

CGAP Annual Report 2019
https://www.cgap.org/sites/default/files/organizational-documents/2019_Annual_Report.pdf

Atlas homepage
https://www.atlasdata.org/

Previous MicroCapital article on CGAP
https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-pride-uganda-harvesting-cgap-partner-develop-alternative-credit-scoring-model-boost-microfinance-crop-yields-small-scale-coffee-farmers/

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