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Partner description:
Fansoto is a nonprofit microfinance institution based in Senegal. Founded in 2016, Fansoto focuses on serving populations that are excluded from the traditional financial system, including vulnerable and underserved population groups. Fansoto provides credit and savings services, along with a wide range of non-financial services, to clients working in small entreprises, agriculture and livestock. Close to 100% of Fansoto's clients are women.

To better target these communities, Fansoto partners with local associations who have expressed that their beneficiaries are in need of microfinance products, such as associations working with widows and disabled people. Given that people of these backgrounds are often completely excluded from other financial services, including from traditional microfinance institutions, Fansoto is serving an unmet need.

A unique lending approach:
Fansoto will use Kiva financing to offer loans to underbanked populations in Senegal working in small enterprises, agriculture and livestock. Fansoto loans allow borrowers to buy small equipment and provide working capital. 

Fansoto loans are individual loans, however each individual must be part of a larger group with whom they participate in monthly or bi-monthly meetings/trainings. Group meetings are a space to train clients on a variety of themes, including financial education, economics, health, family, agriculture, and the environment.

Fansoto chose to begin operations in the Casamance region in Senegal, beneath the Gambia. This region has suffered from an ongoing low-level conflict for the past 30+ years that has displaced over 60,000 people, and is thus very underserved by the microfinance sector. While operating in extremely vulnerable areas means riskier work, Fansoto is placing significant emphasis on providing training for clients and have been finding repayment rates to be strong to date.