Vital Finance

Debt : January 2026

BIO has provided a €3 M loan to Vital Finance Benin, one of the country's leading microfinance institutions.

Amount

€ 3,000,000.00

Type of investment

Debt

Development impacts

Local economic growth
Financial inclusion
Promotion of ESG best practices
Gender

Beneficiary locations

Africa: Benin

Investment field

Financial Institutions

Activity

Microfinance institution

Organisation

Vital Finance

Domicile

Benin

This financing will empower thousands of micro and small entrepreneurs, and in particular women-led businesses—70% of Vital Finance’s clients are women—enabling them to grow, create jobs, and drive sustainable local economies. This partnership is a testament to the power of development finance and the catalytic role of SMEs in achieving inclusive economic growth. When MSMEs thrive, communities prosper.

Development impacts

Local economic growth
Support local economic growth through credit to microentreprises and small business who are key drivers for local economic activity, job creation and poverty alleviation (from 25,000 clients today to at least 30,000 clients in 2026)
Financial inclusion
Increasing access to credit and other payment services for un(der)served microentrepreneurs and small businesses - 25,000 clients today to at least 30,000 clients in 2026 - through very small loans size - from 100 EUR to 30k EUR and average of EUR 1k to customers who are unbanked and unable to access funding through commercial banks. Its specific outreach - including 70% women clients - notably results from a lending approach unique in the country that does not condition access to credit to the establishment of an upfront deposit.
Promotion of ESG best practices
Supporting an MFI which is proactive on mitigating Client Protection risks - good Social Performance (SPI4) self-assessment in 2022 and further improvements expected as part of BIO's ESAP-, despite its small size and limited dedicated staff.
Gender
2X eligible on leadership - 33% of women in both BoD and senior management - and employment - 47% of women in the workforce and several quality indicators, as well as on indirect criteria with 70% of women clients mostly reached through group lending.

E&S Impact

Vital Finance had already identified the priority actions for its continuous improvement. These include new or updated procedures relative to data protection, debt collection, staff training, IT indicators covering social objectives, external SPI5 evaluation, staff satisfaction survey and HR Manual update.

Environmental and Social (E&S) classification of the project: C