YF / IRAM		8.12.2000

		

Comparative analysis of two microfinance 
institutions targeting women : 
The NGO WAGES in Togo and the NGO FDEA in Senegal

1°	Introduction to the two institutions.

11	Commonalities of the two institutions.

The two microfinance “institutions” studied in this comparative analysis, share a number of characteristics: 

•	They address women in rural and urban areas (FDEA), or urban areas and city outskirts (WAGES), and are mostly directed at small businesses often linked to markets. 

•	They base their concept of microfinance on small groups of women and on the application of mutual guarantee.

•	They have developed their microfinance activities with the support of non-governmental financial backers in the North (CARE for WAGES, NOVIB for FDEA).

•	They cannot attain the status of microfinance institution according to the terms of the law of IMEC, which only considers mutualist status (hence their name: “direct credit project”). 

•	They have not completed their institutional development, which is still the object of lengthy reflection. Their NGO status is provisional. 

•	They are managed by native executives, with no permanent technical assistance from abroad. 

Although both institutions have strengths that will be analysed, particularly in terms of social ties, they also have their weaknesses (management information systems, computerisation, institutional plans). 

12	WAGES Togo.

WAGES was founded in Togo on the initiative of CARE, to set up a microfinance project for women, following a feasibility study conducted by CARE in 1994. The first microfinance activities were launched in 1995. At the end of the three-year project, WAGES was formed in 1999, holding NGO status. They signed a framework agreement under the rule of law 95-014 on IMECs, giving them legal permission to conduct microfinance operations. 

13	FDEA Senegal.

FDEA was initially the initiative of a Senegalese woman, who is the current director of the NGO. FDEA is an older organisation and started its activities in 1987, but its microfinance activities for women really took off in 1991 with the backing of NOVIB. FDEA signed a framework agreement under the rule of law 95-03 on IMECs giving it legal permission to conduct microfinance operations. 

2	Characteristics of the two institutions.

21	Concept of microfinance.

This concept is described by way of a series of tables:

•	The client groups.

Identification of target client groups	
WAGES Togo	FDEA Senegal	
Women with income-generating, productive and diversified activities for urban and suburban markets. 	Underprivileged women
Women with micro-enterprises
Women with small enterprises
Men (small number: 2 %)	

•	Size of the groups.

Size of the groups of targeted clients	
WAGES Togo	FDEA Senegal	

Associations with 10 to 35 members.
(on average : 17 women).

Solidarity groups of 12 members
(a reduced number).	Underprivileged women (5 members)
Women with micro-enterprises (10)
Women with small enterprises (10)
Men (10).

NB. Some women are also granted loans on an individual level (long-term reliable clients in greater need of credit). 	

•	Nature of the loans.

Nature of the loans	
WAGES Togo	FDEA Senegal	
Nature of the loans : progressive:
•	Common loan: the most widespread (6 to 12 month term).
•	Special loan: for associations that have repaid several rounds of credit without fail. Can be granted on top of a common loan (maximum 3 month term).
•	Repayment: monthly (6 month term initially, up to 12 months on the 8th round of credit)	Nature of the loans: progressive :
•	Underprivileged women: 2 to 5 months
•	Women with businesses. 6 to 28 months
•	Individual women. 6 to 28 months

Possibility to move from first to second category (cf. Appendix 3).
	Repayment : monthly (for an initial 6 month term up to 28 months on the 13th round of credit) 	

•	Size of loans.

Size of loans	
WAGES Togo	FDEA Senegal	
Size of loans: 

•	Average sum per loan: 258,597 cfa.
•	Minimum loan: 100,000 cfa (1st loam).
•	Maximum loan: 1,000,000 cfa (8th loan).	Size of loans : 
	Average sum per loan: 420,560 cfa.
•	Underprivileged women: from 5000 cfa 1st loan to 25,000 4th loan.
	Women with businesses: from less than 300,000 cfa up to 5 million cfa depending on length of client history and evolution of the activity.	

•	Links between loans and savings.

Links between loans and savings	
WAGES Togo	FDEA Senegal	
•	First loan: save for 4 months before accessing loan.

•	All loans: have savings equal to 1/3 of the loan.

•	Sum of saving to keep untouched: 2,000 cfa.	•	Obligatory saving: 2 products:
-	Savings prior to loan access: 10 % of the sum of the loan
-	Unregulated saving as loan is paid off.
•	Voluntary saving: 
-	Solidarity-based saving (social problems, study visits and exchanges). 
-	Provident savings on sight (reconstitute the working capital).	
•	
Links between loans and savings (continued).

Links between loans and savings (continued)	
WAGES Togo	FDEA Senegal	
	•	Voluntary saving (continued): 
-	Pilgrimage savings (to go to Mecca or Lourdes)
-	Saving to set up the financial institution (to create the “women’s bank”). 
-	health savings (to create mutual health insurance companies).	

•	Interest rate policy. 

Interest rate policy	
WAGES Togo	FDEA Senegal	
Loans:
.	The association / group: pays WAGES 1.5% per month.

•	Women with businesses: pay the association / group 2% per month.

•	The difference in interest rates: 0.5% is set aside to cover association running costs. 
Savings:
•	Interest accrued: 3% per year.	Loans:
•	The group: pays 27% a year to the FDEA.

Savings:
•	Obligatory saving: 4% a year.
•	Voluntary saving: no interest accrued.
•	Other savings: no interest accrued.	

•	Governance style.

Governance style	
WAGES Togo	FDEA Senegal	
WAGES Management:
•	Co-ordinator: long-standing member of WAGES staff and former project leader with CARE in Togo.
•	Management team: some managers from previous CARE projects and some later hires. 
Managers and beneficiaries: 
•	Managers strongly committed to teamwork.
	Beneficiaries are committed and given responsibility within the associations and groups.	FDEA Management:
•	Chairman: founder and Managing Director of the FDEA: a woman with considerable charisma. 
•	Management team: come from the world of NGOs and the recruitment business. 
Managers and beneficiaries: 
•	Managers have motivation and commitment to action and do not wish to leave the organisation in spite of salaries below market rates. 
•	Beneficiaries: committed to women’s groups. 	

•	Governance style (continued).

Governance style (continued)	
WAGES Togo	FDEA Senegal	

Dialogue women/institution:
•	Variety of activities: 
-	Regular meetings for discussion and consultation.
-	Training:
Credit methods (members).
Administration committee (monthly).
Managers (monthly).
IGA Management (members).
Marketing (members)
-	Studies on the impact of the financial services on women 	
Dialogue women/institution:
•	Numerous activities:
-	Seminars for reflection and consultation (regional and national) on directions to take (products, institutionalisation, etc.) 
-	Study trips at home (Senegal) and abroad on topics relating to markets and micro-enterprise management. 
-	Training for women in the groups. 	

22	Results obtained.

The operating figures can be found in the tables in the appendix. Loan recovery rates when payment becomes due are good in both cases: 

•	FEDEA Senegal: 98% on time (1999).
•	WAGES Togo: 97% on time (1999).

There are, however, considerable variations in the loan recovery rates of certain credit representatives’ portfolios, but these are few in number and of least volume for the moment.

Both institutions aim to become permanent. In terms of balance of payments, the FDEA in Senegal covers 40% of its expenses through its products (1999) and will begin to make a profit in 3 years time. WAGES in Togo covers 90% of its expenses through its products and predicts a healthy balance of payments by the year 2001.

3	Analysis of social ties.

31	Categories of social ties identified

The typology that emerges from our observations is the following: 

•	Pre-existing social ties within the associations and groups.
•	Practice of solidarity, social ties between the women and the limitations.
•	Women’s ties to the microfinance institution. 
•	Relationship between social ties and the need to re-access credit.
•	Relationship between social ties and services provided by the institutions.
•	Size of groups / associations and creation of social ties. 
•	Ownership, institutionalisation: indicators of social ties. 

The features of each type are outlined below. 

32	Nature of the social ties 

•	Pre-existing social ties within the associations and groups.

In both cases (WAGES in Togo & FDEA in Senegal) there are two types of groups and associations, depending on whether ties already existed before financial services were acquired. In the case of WAGES in Togo, we must also add the chit funds arising from the associations.

We have observed no differences in the nature of the social ties between the two types, as there has been no specific analysis on this topic (lack of impact assessments by the FDEA in Senegal, no analysis in the impact model used by WAGES in Togo).

What does emerge in terms of social ties is the following: 

-	When the groups / associations of women precede the access to credit, internal cohesion is generally quite strong and includes social ties that the members have forged over a long period of time. 

-	But the groups and associations of women that were set up by the two credit institutions to provide access to credit also demonstrate good internal cohesion. 

-	The rare opportunities to gain access to formal credit often ignore the women’s real social behaviour patterns: the need to access long-term credit is a precondition for repeated economic activity and sustained income and thus also for the link with the microfinance institutions. 

•	Practice of solidarity, social ties between the women and the limitations.

The practice of solidarity and surety always raises the issue of the gap between theory and practice, and this is difficult to analyse. The perception of the influence of social ties is therefore difficult to establish. 

What has been observed is that: 

-	Repayment can be made by the group / association if a woman finds herself in difficulties, in order not to endanger their access to new credit. But the woman acknowledges her debt to the group or association of women and must discharge it according to the terms that are negotiated.

-	But inability to repay, if it is an issue for several members and if the sum of the debt is high, can become more and more problematic. This creates a cul-de-sac in which the institution is not repaid the loan because the ratio of healthy borrowers to delinquent borrowers is unfavourable.

-	Older groups or associations that have long-term shared experience can more easily find solutions to their internal problems. Their solidarity and social ties are more developed. 

•	The women’s links to the microfinance institution. 

The factors that give rise to ties between the beneficiaries and the institutions appear to be influenced by the fact that the women identify strongly with the two institutions. Several factors come into play here: 

-	The methods used by the institution:

The women are generally well versed in the institutions’ methods. The methodological approaches taken by the two institutions leave considerable room for the women to take part in defining methods and procedures and accessing information and training. Knowledge and mastery of these methods and procedures are gradually acquired as their credit history develops. 

-	Adaptation of financial products to women’s needs :

The definition of financial products is also closely correlated to their needs by the women themselves. The number of savings products offered by FDEA is evidence of this. In the case of WAGES, the significance of saving is well understood and research is conducted into what makes up the associations’ internal resources (in order to grant emergency loans, create a solidarity fund, etc). 

The women’s constantly repeated request to raise the credit limit is still resisted by the two institutions. 

-	The perception of belonging to the institution: 
Both institutions secure the loyalty of their female clients by way of participatory management, but it should be pointed out that these two institutions are the only ones that provide women with long-term access to credit in a fairly non-competitive market (there are few microfinance institutions competing in the same places). 

One important factor for both institutions is the credit ceiling, which in general is high in comparison to other institutions offering loans, and this is very important for securing client loyalty and creating strong links with the women. 

-	Perception of the idea of ownership of the institution: 

One can observe a perception of ownership developing among the women in both microfinance institutions (see below). 

-	The impact of loans.

The loans have a strong impact on the revenue generated from economic activities and direct social and economic effects on livelihoods (food, health, male/female social and domestic relations, informal debt relief and the self-reliance and freedom of women).   

But the institutions do not value these aspects (no impact studies at FDEA and no promotion or development at WAGES). 

•	Relationship between social ties and the need to re-access credit.

The need to re-access credit is a strong motivating factor for the women and fosters quite a strict mindset. They are more likely than men to abide by the administrative rules, in order to guarantee follow-up loans. 

The women do not want to return to their previous circumstances (using moneylenders, itinerant bankers, supplier credit from traders, uncertain recourse to parents and friends, etc.) 

Because of this, the women often develop: 

-	Their own strict requirements for internal management (respect for the credit rules, repayment arrangements, creation of internal solidarity funds to mitigate blows, and so on). 

-	This translates into the association or group having social control over the members, requiring that any outstanding payment of a loan by a woman in difficulties be covered (up to a certain limit if several members have outstanding debts). 

It can be said that social ties are created between the associations or groups and the credit institutions. 

•	Relationship between social ties and services provided by the institutions. 

In both cases, WAGES Togo and FDEA Senegal, the services provided and the variety of activities aimed at the women are the factors that integrate and create social ties: 

-	FDEA Senegal:

FDEA is organised around two poles of complementary strategic actions - financial and non-financial services - each one with separate accounting. The women’s demands are for both poles and they do not differentiate between the two. Their motivation for non-financial services is generally to receive advice on financial products and on the creation of the “women’s bank” (regional and national seminars) or training and sharing of experiences in running a micro-enterprise (market research, marketing techniques, etc). 

-	WAGES Togo :

Because the women with WAGES are more urban and their economic activities take priority, they are less available to attend meetings organised by WAGES. But they are in constant search of new economic opportunities and always delegate an association member to go to the training sessions and meetings that WAGES organises. 

One can see, then, that if the microfinance model integrates non-financial services as a support to the financial services, social ties are forged between the women and institution, thereby ensuring that the financial services are well managed. 

•	Size of the groups / associations and creation of social ties.

One characteristic shared by WAGES Togo and FDEA Senegal is the small size of the groups  / associations (an average of 17 women per association and 12 women per solidarity group for WAGES and an average of 5 in a group of impoverished women and 10 in other groups for FDEA). 

The small size is an important factor for the emergence of values: social cohesion, solidarity, social ties, and so on. These values are expressed in a variety of ways that differ from one group to another. 

•	Ownership and institutionalisation: indicators of social ties. 

Both institutional models emerge as calling upon women to take part in management and have not chosen the mutualist model that involves ownership of the institutions by the beneficiaries. However, the women can be seen to be developing a perception of ownership of the institution. 

FDEA Senegal:

In the case of FDEA Senegal, the women want to set up the “Women’s Bank” and have created a specific saving – capitalisation product (1,000 cfa on opening the account, then 1,000 cfa a month for 24 months).

WAGES Togo:

With WAGES Togo, the women clearly express their sense of belonging to WAGES and show willingness to capitalise on a future management structure, even if this means contributing 20,000 cfa each. Some associations require a dividend on these shares. 

The determining factor in the women’s view of their ownership is the permanent nature of access to financial services, in particular loans. 

4	The limitations of the social ties. 

However, the presence of social ties among the women is not the panacea that can resolve every difficulty. Certain limitations do appear: 

•	Number and volume of outstanding debts in the group. 

Although solidarity within the associations or group works when it is a matter of a single member in difficulties, it quickly comes up against its own limitations if the number and volume of outstanding debts increase, leading to an end in access to credit. 

•	Absence of cash revenue made available by loans. 

A minority of loan beneficiaries do not manage to free up additional resources for a variety of reasons (economic activity has not been good, theft of stock, lengthy illness that leads women to use the loan to cover healthcare). 

The institutions do not analyse or look for solutions to these circumstances that are not insured for by the groups or associations.  

•	The demands of economic activity limits participation in the microfinance institution’s management activities. 

This is particularly true in the case of WAGES, where women say that they do not have a lot of time for meetings, and prefer to maximise the amount of time they spend on their commercial activities. 

•	Unequal distribution of credit within a group or association.  

The poor distribution of credit around the individual members of the association or group can sometimes be a source of internal tension and can even cause it to break up. Possible solutions that are being tried out are the solidarity groups in the case of WAGES Togo, or individual loans for certain women in the case of FDEA Senegal.

•	Long distances, journey times and costs of getting to the institution’s offices. 

Affiliation to an institution and the functioning of the groups and associations are both influenced by the distances and costs of getting to the offices (to withdraw or repay loans). In the case of FDEA, the distances generally range from 30 to 40 km, with one group at a distance of 150 km. These distances also have the effect of reducing the frequency with which the credit representatives provide follow-up and this leads to a relaxing of the internal management rules in groups and associations. 

5	Conclusions.

The lessons that can be drawn can be classified as follows: 

51	Size of the groups: a decisive factor. 

The small size of the groups seems to be a decisive factor when encouraging the women’s relationships with each other and a certain level of solidarity, both founded on existing social ties forged through daily management practices. 

52	Shared activities bringing women together. 

In both cases (WAGES Togo and FDEA Senegal), the formation of groups / associations on the basis of the nature of their activities (small businesses trading agricultural products, fish-sellers, arts and crafts sales, etc) creates / reinforces the social tie by means of conversation and dialogue on the shared activities. 

53	Non-financial services: supporting financial services.

The women appreciate the non-financial services, in spite of the fact that they are sometimes not readily available (WAGES Togo), when these services meet their needs (marketing training, economic activity management, research into new markets). 

The women are generally in constant search of new economic opportunities to use loans and sometimes rapidly restructure their activities. They need thoughts from which to develop new ideas.  

54	Ownership of the institution: the women’s wish to ensure permanent access to financial services. 

The women are interested in becoming owners of the institutions in order to guarantee permanent access to credit, which will in turn determine the permanence of their economic activities and therefore their income.

It is, then, the impact of loans on income and the improvement of the women’s livelihoods that determine their loyalty and ties to the microfinance institution.

In the case of WAGES Togo, the women go so far as to aim to distribute the dividends from their subscribed shares.  

55	The physical and social proximity between the institution and the women. 

The issue of distance and journey costs (see the case of FDEA Senegal), clearly demonstrates the importance of a relationship of geographical closeness between the women and the institution, a fundamental complement to the relationship of social proximity. 

Appendix 1
FDEA Senegal
Evolution of microfinance activity indicators

Indicators	Loans	Clients	Volume (cfa)	Sum (cfa)	
	Years	N°	Growth	N°	Growth	Amount	Growth	Average loan	Growth	
										
	Year 1989	13 	0% 	172 	0% 	3 673 375 	0% 	282 567 	0% 	
										
	Year 1990	20 	54% 	235 	37% 	11 200 000 	205% 	560 000 	98% 	
										
	Year 1991	73 	265% 	819 	249% 	24 820 000 	122% 	340 000 	-39% 	
										
	Year 1992	59 	-78% 	591 	-28% 	14 629 625 	-41% 	247 960 	-27% 	
										
	Year 1993	70 	52% 	914 	55% 	23 380 000 	60% 	334 000 	35% 	
										
	Year 1994	139 	99% 	902 	-1% 	33 090 000 	42% 	238 058 	-29% 	
										
	Year 1995	150 	8% 	1 333 	48% 	60 810 000 	84% 	405 400 	70% 	
										
	Year 1996	214 	43% 	1 744 	31% 	103 490 000 	70% 	483 598 	19% 	
										
	Year 1997	389 	82% 	3 295 	89% 	176 218 600 	70% 	453 004 	-6% 	
										
	Year 1998	723 	86% 	5 106 	55% 	252 147 000 	43% 	348 751 	-23% 	
										
	Year 1999	1 281 	77% 	9 671 	89% 	533 241 240 	111% 	416 270 	19% 	
										
	 May  2000	731 	-43% 	5 685 	-41% 	387 504 000 	-27% 	530 101 	27% 	
										
Total/average	3 862 		30 467 		1 624 203 840 		420 560 	 	
Source:  IRAM – Setting up a microfinance institution. Mission statement. July 2000. 

FDEA Senegal
Productivity of credit representatives 

Regional office	Target as per Year 1 business plan	Actual productivity in Year 1	
Kaolack regional office
(3 credit representatives).	70 credit files per credit representative	              110 files / 1 rep
                88 files / 1rep
             187 files / 1 rep	
Thiès-Louga regional office
(3 credit representatives).	70 credit files per credit representative	                70 files / 1 rep
75 files / 1 rep
150 files / 1 rep	
Dakar-Mbour regional office
(2 credit representatives).	70 credit files per credit representative	122 files / 1 rep
180 files / 1 rep	
Average	982 files total, an average of  123 / representative	
Source: IRAM – Setting up a microfinance institution. Mission statement. July 2000.

Appendix 2
WAGES Togo
Institutional development

ACTIVITIES	December 1998	December 1999	Progress made	
ASSOCIATIONS – GROUPS –MEMBERS etc	

  Number of associations
  Number of solidarity groups 
  Number of members
  Number of statutes
  Number of internal regulations
  Number of cooperation agreements signed
  Number of general assemblies held
  Number of impact surveys filled
  Number of women trained
	
393
45
6,686
375
395
322
283
769
1,384	
402
116
7,445
418
500
391
365
960
1,675	
9
71
759
43
105
69
82
191
291	
SAVINGS (cfa)	

- Total amount of savings
- Amount withdrawn from savings
- Net savings
	
468,458,039
223,388,675
245,069,364	
671,395,020
355,488,365
315,906,655	
202,936,981
132,099,690
70,837,291	
CREDIT	

  Total number of beneficiaries
Number of loans granted
Sum of loans granted (cfa)
  Capital repayment (cfa)
  Outstanding portfolio (cfa)	
15.301
1.554
2.339.306.559
1.762.225.784
578.102.575
	
20.259
2.152
3.339.889.809
2.674.582.405
665.307.404	
4.958
598
1.000.583.250
912.356.621
87.204.829	

Source: WAGES – Annual report of operations. 1999

WAGES Togo
Productivity of credit representatives in 1999

Number of associations & members	Number of active credit representatives	
Associations 402	10	
Members  7,445	10	
Average : 744 members / credit representative	
Average : 40 associations / credit representative	

Source: WAGES – Reported data. 1999

Appendix 3
	
WAGES Togo

Target Groups

Category	Percentage	Occupations	
Services	3 %	Hairdressers	
	3 %	Seamstresses	
	10 %	Restaurant owners	
	16 %	Total services	
Agriculture	3 %	Raising and sale of livestock	
	19 %	Production & sale of fruits and vegetables	
	22 %	Total Agriculture	
Trade	11 %	Coal vendors	
	8 %	Sale of cosmetics	
	18 %	Sale of clothing	
	2 %	Sale of medicinal plants	
	1 %	Sale of haberdashery	
	9 %	Manufactured products	
	1 %	Ironmongery	
	3,5 %	Household items	
	8,5 %	Various	
	62 %	Total Trade	

Source: WAGES – Annual report of operations. 1999

FDEA Senegal

Activity financed

Category	Percentage	
Trade	60 %	
Crafts	20 %	
Agriculture	8 %	
Services	7 %	
Fishing	5 %	

Source: IRAM – Setting up a microfinance institution. Mission statement. July 2000.

Appendix 4
WAGES Togo
Summary of impact results

Average age 	38	
Ethnicity	46% Ewé          4.5% Kabye      1.5% Peda
31% Mina            3% Kotokoli   1% Other
10% Ouatchi        3% Fon                 	
Average number of people in charge	5	
Women’s share in household expenses (percentage)	67%	
Division of household expenses by women
	42%  Food
16% Pocket money
7% Health
11% Transport
7% Coal/firewood
3% Domestic help wages	2% Rent
3% Water
2% Electricity/Gas
1% Petrol
3% Education
3% Children’s health	
	On average, they spend 40,940 F CFA	
Number of school-age children	2.96	
Number of children in school	2.56	
Percentage of school-age children attending school	86.5%	
Income-generating activities	Services:

Agriculture:

Trade:

	 3% Hairdressers
 3% Seamstresses
10% Restaurant owners
16%

3% Raising & sale of livestock
19%Production/sale fruits -  vegetables
32 %

11% Coal vendors
8% Cosmetics
18% Clothing
2%  Medicinal plants
1% Haberdashery
9% Manufactured products
1% Ironmongery
3.5% Household items
8.5% Various
62%	
Average monthly profit	48,200 F CFA	
Percentage of women who keep the books	27%	
Use of loans	98.75%  Occupations
 1% Payment of debts
0.25% Investment	
Frequency of saving	1% Daily                    4% Bimonthly
41% Weekly             54% Monthly	
Use of profit	84% Food                    2.5% School fees
3.5% Clothing             1.5% Social expenses
2.5% Health                    1% Transport
1% Care of the children  4%  Other	
Percentage with access to tap water	48%	
Percentage with access to electricity	57%	
Literacy rate	59%	
Source: WAGES – Annual report of operations. 1999

Appendix 5

FDEA Senegal

Loan cycles and savings/loan ratio

Sum of loan 
	Term of loan (months)	Savings required prior to loan	Monthly saving	
Total savings	Ratio
Savings / loan	
			Sum saved per month	Payment deferral	Savings
month/total			
300,000	6 months	30,000	10,000	1 month	50,000	70,000	31.5 %	
600,000	8 months	60,000	15,000	1 month	105,000	165,000	27.5 %	
750,000	10	75,000	15,000	1 month	135,000	210,000	28.0 %	
900,000	11 	90,000	20,000	1 month	200,000	290,000	32.2 %	
1,000,000	12 	100,000	20,000	1 month	220,000	320,000	32.0 %	
1,200,000	13 	120,000	25,000	1 month	300,000	420,000	35.0 %	
1,800,000	15 	180,000	25,000	1 month	350,000	530,000	29.4 %	
2,000,000	16 	200,000	25,000	1 month	375,000	575,000	28.8 %	
2,500,000	18	250,000	25,000	1 month	425,000	675,000	27.0 %	
3,000,000	20 	300,000	25,000	1 month	475,000	775,000	25.8 %	
3,500,000	22 	350,000	25,000	1 month	525,000	875,000	25.0 %	
4,000,000	24 	400,000	25,000	1 month	575,000	975,000	24.3 %	
5,000,000	28 	500,000	25,000	1 month	675,000	1,175,000	23.5 %	
Source: FDEA data & calculations (2000).

Appendix 6

WAGES Togo

Progression of loan cycles

Loan cycle 
	Maximum sum per individual	Actual loan term 
	Maximum deferral	
1	100,000 cfa	6 months	1 month	
2	150,000 cfa	7 months	2 months	
3	250,000 cfa	8 months	2 months	
4	350,000 cfa	9 months	2 months	
5	500,000 cfa	10 months	2 months	
6	650,000 cfa	11 months	2 months	
7	850,000 cfa	12 months	2 months	
8	1,000,000 cfa	12 months	2 months	

Source: WAGES – Annual report of operations. 1999

WAGES Togo

Brackets of loans granted by WAGES
In 1999

Bracket / amount	Number of women	Percentage	
<180,000 cfa	2550	62.5 %	
From 180,001 to 300,000 cfa	616	15.1 %	
From 300,001 to 600,000 cfa	563	13.8 %	
>600,000 cfa	351	8.6 %	
Total	4080	100 %	

Source: WAGES – Annual report of operations. 1999