Kashf Foundation

Development impacts

• Local economic growth

  Kashf is focused on supporting underserved microentrepreneurs. The main products are productive loans which provide financings to small business owners in the country. KF has several initiatives in terms of capacity building that include trainings to build vocational skills, financial management capability and business management acumen. KF will expand from 422 branch offices to 498.

• Private sector consolidation/innovation

  BIO supports a pioneering MFI to further expand its unique outreach and develop innovative products (e.g. Islamic Finance loans, livestock credit product, micro-pension products and certificates of deposits) and services (e.g. support to 3,500 low-cost private schools via dedicated financing and capacity building, health services model expanding from 5 to 25 clinics to provide free health services to clients and families in underserved areas).

  Digital transformation - Helping KF to pursue its digital transformation through the launch of its digital lending platform and Kashf mobile application - both in pilot phase, aiming to speed up operations and better serve Pakistan's young population.

• Financial inclusion

  Kashf provides access to finance to approximately 960,000 active borrowers, a figure expected to reach 1.4 million by 2028. The vast majority of clients are low-income women entrepreneurs, with 82% living at or below the poverty line of USD 2 per day, who have traditionally been excluded from the formal banking sector. Through repeated access to small loans, averaging USD 230 and capped at USD 1,795 per client, women are able to start, sustain, and grow their businesses. Combined with comprehensive capacity-building support, these financial services contribute to improved business management, higher incomes, greater financial resilience, and an enhanced ability to meet household needs, as demonstrated by impact assessments of Kashf’s microfinance programme. 

  Kashf also strengthens financial security by expanding access to essential insurance and savings products. As Pakistan’s first microinsurance provider, the institution offers health, life, and livestock insurance, with 100% of its clients covered by an insurance policy. In addition, Kashf promotes long-term financial resilience through savings products, including a recently introduced micro-pension scheme that has already been adopted by approximately 50,000 women. These services help clients better manage risks, cope with unexpected events, and build greater financial security for themselves and their families. 

• Food security & rural development

  Maintaining strong rural outreach with ~35% of portfolio serving rural communities - mainly agriculture and livestock financing (28% of portfolio) which benefits from a range of specific products and systematic insurance coverage to enhance resilience - 150k livestock owners so far, and 7the upcoming of an innovative agricultural value chain program targeting 400 women farmers by 2027.

• Gender

  2X aligned with KF fulfilling all 2X criteria, featuring a female founder, a female CEO, 60% women on the board, 43% women in senior management, 50% women in the workforce, and nearly 100% women customers- with about 77% of loans directly used by the women, 14% jointly used by the spouses and 9% by their male relatives, alongside women empowerment as a core mission and dedicated efforts to advance gender equality at all levels of operations.