A vibrant and inclusive financial sector is a vital component in a healthy economy to stimulate and support growth potential. ICL brings experience in working with both financial institutions and its clients in the challenging landscape of the Malawian economy. Imani works in partnership with government, regulators, financial service providers and companies to improve transparency and stability in the financial sector in Malawi. Complementary to this, we also work to ensure that micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and underserved populations have access to affordable financial services and working capital through the promotion and support on appropriate policy, regulation and interventions.

 

Through Foster Lewis, our financial services affiliate, we work to provide advisory services to financial institutions in order to help them efficiently deploy capital and deliver new and scalable financial services. We also work directly with entrepreneurs and MSMEs looking for in investment to support the development of robust business cases and offer a platform to showcase these opportunities to potential investors.

 

 

Featured projects:

 

Finmark Trust - Coordination of the Making Access to Financial Services Possible (MAP) Project (2015)

Imani served as the country coordinator for the MAP project, a diagnostic and programmatic framework that identifies key drivers of financial inclusion, as well as specific actions needed to further enhance financial inclusion.  In this role, Imani was responsible for relationship management with the steering committee and other stakeholders as well as gathering and collating relevant information from financial institutions in Malawi to assess the level of financial inclusion in Malawi and the services and the products available around the country.

 

PROINVEST - Alternative Sources of Funding for SME Investment 

Imani was commissioned by PROINVEST to assess the relevance and viability of alternative sources of investment financing for SMEs in Sub-Saharan Africa with the ultimate aim of stimulating formal private investment in the region. Responsibilities for this consultancy included identifying and validating alternative sources of financing and the optimal implementation mechanisms to be provided to SMEs; the identifying conditions enabling local entrepreneurs to access alternative sources of funding; and identifying optimal existing strategies for these funds.