Status update — June 30, 2023

Ghana Women Fund’s final loans with Kiva have been defaulted, and this partnership is now closed. For the last  4 years, Kiva has been working with Ghana Women Fund to recover the outstanding amounts due to Kiva lenders. Kiva’s present assessment is that this Lending Partner will not make further payments, and thus the remaining $9,021.70 in outstanding amounts due to Kiva lenders has been defaulted.



Ghana Women Fund (GWF) Ltd was established in 2001 to cater to women who ordinarily cannot access credit services from regular banks and financial institutions. In 2010, GWF launched a new credit program that offers water and sanitation loans to people in Ghana living in slums and informal settlements. The high density of unplanned houses in slum areas of Ghana makes it virtually impossible for the communities to have piped water connections or sanitary facilities. The only feasible solution for sustainable clean, safe and hygienic water and sanitation services in these slums has been through privately owned services charged at nominal fees. 


GWF’s water and sanitation loans are used to provide safe, clean and hygienic water and sanitation facilities that improve the health of the people living in these slum areas. Given the huge populations living in Ghana’s slums, the demand is very high for GWF’s loans.


A unique lending approach:


The target population for the water and sanitation loans is micro-entrepreneurs who live in the slums. GWF identifies and trains potential entrepreneurs who want to engage in water-related businesses such as water kiosks, bath services for public use and sachet water production. The loans offer micro-entrepreneurs an opportunity to improve their economic livelihood through increased income. While improving their own lives, the entrepreneurs also bring cleaner water to the slum communities in Ghana where they live. 


Repayment Performance on Kiva

    This Lending Partner All Kiva Partners
  Start Date On Kiva Dec 19, 2014 Oct 12, 2005
Total Loans $417,450 $1,947,336,035
Amount of raised Inactive loans $0 $394,700
Number of raised Inactive loans 0 407
Amount of Paying Back Loans $0 $154,734,695
Number of Paying Back Loans 0 180,461
Amount of Ended Loans $417,450 $1,763,217,280
Number of Ended Loans 535 2,363,981
Delinquency Rate 0.00% 11.31%
Amount in Arrears $0 $10,651,186
Outstanding Portfolio $0 $94,214,866
Number of Loans Delinquent 0 50,464
Default Rate 10.19% 1.83%
Amount of Ended Loans Defaulted $42,533 $32,202,912
Number of Ended Loans Defaulted 108 84,618
Currency Exchange Loss Rate 1.28% 0.50%
Amount of Currency Exchange Loss $5,354 $11,901,529
Refund Rate 5.25% 0.54%
Amount of Refunded Loans $21,925 $10,472,500
Number of Refunded Loans 33 9,545

Loan Characteristics On Kiva

    This Lending Partner All Kiva Partners
  Loans to Women Borrowers 75.63% 78.22%
Average Loan Size $774 $391
Average Individual Loan Size $774 $589
Average Group Loan Size $0 $1,887
Average number of borrowers per group 0 8.3
Average GDP per capita (PPP) in local country $3,500 $5,599
Average Loan Size / GDP per capita (PPP) 22.10% 6.99%
Average Time to Fund a Loan 6.31 days 8.91 days
Average Dollars Raised Per Day Per Loan $122.57 $43.92
  Average Loan Term 10.1 months 11.46 months

Journaling Performance on Kiva

    This Lending Partner All Kiva Partners
  Total Journals 209 1,173,011
  Journaling Rate 33.27% 42.28%
  Average Number of Comments Per Journal 0.00 0.02
  Average Number of Recommendations Per Journal 0.00 0.57

Borrowing Cost Comparison (based on 2016 data)

    This Lending Partner Median for MFI's in Country All Kiva Partners
  Average Cost to Borrower 42% PY 53.00% PY 26.92% PY
  Profitability (return on assets) -4.6% 0.3% -3.11%
  Average Loan Size (% of per capita income) N/A 13.00% 0.00%

Country Fast Facts

Lending Partner Staff