Maha Agriculture Public (Maha), a rural micro-finance institution in Myanmar gets AgriFI support to scale up its operations
EDFI AgriFI commits to finance the scale up strategy of Maha, a micro-finance institution providing individual loans to farmers, vendors & MSMEs in rural areas. The unsecured loan of USD 3 million in local currency equivalent will enable Maha to reach up to 90,000 farmers over a 3 year-period.
EDFI AgriFI (AgriFI), the EU Agriculture Financing Initiative, contracted a USD 3 million (equivalent in local currency) unsecured loan to grow Maha Agriculture Public Co Ltd’s portfolio in Myanmar.
Maha was founded in 2013 as a licensed microfinance institution (MFI) with a visionary goal to become the leading rural MFI in Myanmar. The company is now operating in 32 branches across 8 regions and providing financial services to over 50,000 rural clients, >90% of whom are farmers. AgriFI 3million USD investment over 3 years will contribute to support Maha’s growth strategy and scale up its microloans’ portfolio in rural areas, expanding the number of farmers borrowing from the institution up to 90,000. The affordable loans provided to those farmers enable them to invest in higher quality inputs, improve agricultural yield, and as a result obtain higher income and improve overall quality of life.
As part of AgriFI’s mandate to support “missing middle” companies, the financing of Maha has been contracted in local currency, which provides more flexibility to lenders in a challenging market where funding is scarce.
“AgriFI is proud to support the growth of Maha, which has demonstrated solid expertise in delivering financial services in Myanmar rural areas. With this investment, AgriFI will contribute to boost farmers’ financial inclusion and improve their livelihood” explained Robin Boereboom, AgriFI Investment Officer.
“We are delighted to partner with Maha, which represents our first investment in a micro-finance institution. Our investment will enable Maha to keep growing and unlock additional funding, scaling up their positive impact on smallholder farmers,” added Dimitry Van Raemdonck, AgriFI Manager.
“Farmers in Myanmar are a community which have been underserved by formal financial institutions. With 70 percent of the country’s labour force in the agriculture industry, it is essential for these farmer communities to have access to credible and responsible lenders such as Maha. AgriFI’s decision to support us is a key milestone in the implementation of our growth plan by enabling us to increase our outreach in remote areas. This will allow farmers to improve productivity with a positive spillover to the wellbeing of their households,” commented Matteo Marinelli, Maha’s CEO.
About EDFI AgriFI:
EDFI AgriFI, the EU Agriculture Financing Initiative, is an impact investment facility funded by the European Union, with a mandate to unlock, accelerate and leverage sustainable investments in medium, small and micro agri-enterprises (MSME) that operate in developing countries, with a specific focus on smallholder’s inclusiveness. AgriFI is managed by EDFI Management Company on behalf of the 15 European Development Finance Institutions (DFI).