A Helping Hand in Ghana

In 2007, CHF International and HFC Bank Limited (Ghana) established Boafo Microfinance Services Ltd., a microfinance service company which provides housing and enterprise microfinance loans to households living and working in the informal settlements of Accra, Tema, and Kumasi. Since its inception, Boafo has grown to include a loan portfolio worth nearly $1.5 million and a client base of more than 1,400 active borrowers.

Boafo, which means "helper" in the native Twi language, combines Ghana's largest mortgage lender with CHF to provide a “helping hand” to low- and moderate-income Ghanaians in their pursuit of business, shelter and educational opportunities. Boafo is providing loans thanks to funding from the Global Development Alliance (GDA) of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the United Nations Slum Upgrading Facility (SUF), in addition to HFC Bank.

It is estimated that in Ghana, 1.9 million urban poor face limited access to credit to improve or build their homes or expand or start-up new enterprises. In its role as a unique supplier of non-mortgage housing microfinance loans, Boafo:

  • Lends for the improvement or expansion of homes in informal settlements

  • Lends for business expansion to improve household incomes

  • Requires less collateral coverage for loans to informal sector entrepreneurs than that required by other lenders

  • Offers access to savings services through the HFC Bank

  • Offers consumer education on managing credit and home improvement projects