What to know about this Lending Partner
Status update — July 10, 2026
Since the last update, ECLOF Kenya has continued to experience liquidity constraints, driven by legacy portfolio quality challenges and delays in securing expected institutional funding. The situation was further compounded when the institution shifted to short-term mobile lending to preserve liquidity. While this improved cash turnover, these loans were not eligible for Kiva's crowdfunding platform, resulting in the suspension of new fundraising and a buildup of outstanding obligations on the Kiva facility.
Management has implemented a comprehensive turnaround plan, including the appointment of a new CEO, cost reductions through staff redundancies, branch consolidation, strengthened underwriting, and intensified recovery of the legacy portfolio. Encouragingly, the new portfolio continues to perform well, while collections on the legacy portfolio have shown meaningful progress.
To support the turnaround, ECLOF Kenya is seeking coordinated 12-month moratoriums from all lenders. ECLOF International, the majority shareholder, has indicated its willingness to defer its loan repayments, subject to similar support from the other lenders, while also considering a future debt-to-equity conversion. ECLOF Kenya continues to face significant financial and liquidity risks, and there remains a meaningful risk that the turnaround efforts may not succeed. Despite these risks, Kiva has elected to continue allowing the institution to fundraise on the platform because of ECLOF Kenya's long-standing social impact, our confidence in the current management team's turnaround strategy, and our belief that continued access to Kiva crowdfunding can play an important role in the institution's recovery. We will continue to monitor developments closely and keep lenders informed of any material updates.
Update as of July 30, 2024:
Kiva recently re-assessed the level of risk associated with loans from this Lending Partner. During this process, our analysts gathered updated operational and financial information about the institution, spoke with key members of the staff, and analyzed the Lending Partner’s loan products. As a result, ECLOF's risk rating is now listed as 1 star instead of 2.5 stars. The primary reason for this change in rating is an increase in borrower-level delinquency, which is causing liquidity stress on ECLOF.
We still believe in the impact of ECLOF as an institution and recognize the positive changes they are implementing to address these challenges. However, it is important to accurately represent the current risks associated with their loans.
About ECLOF Kenya:
ECLOF Kenya is a microfinance institution providing financial and non-financial services to micro, small and medium entrepreneurs in Kenya.
As one of the National ECLOF Committees of ECLOF International, the organization provides a variety of services in all sectors of the economy. ECLOF Kenya has recently developed a new higher education loan product with Kiva’s support.
A unique lending approach:
ECLOF Kenya provides services to the economically active micro, small, and medium entrepreneurs in all sectors of the Kenyan economy. The organization recently developed a new higher education loan product that targets final year students and working students at university and vocational training institutes. .
ECLOF Kenya provides education loans with an interest rate of 18% APR, which is lower than many of the available education loan products in Kenya. Each student receiving the loan will be low income, in good standing with the school and in his or her final year of education. The organization hopes that their loan product will encourage other organizations to also provide education loans, substantially increasing the number of students who are able to obtain access to higher education.