Housing microfinance
About the Program
The MicroBuild Fund, operated by Habitat’s Terwilliger Center for Innovation in Shelter, is the world’s first housing- focused microfinance investment vehicle dedicated to helping low-income families. The fund lends to microfinance institutions, which in turn provide finance products, including small loans, so that families can build safe, decent and durable homes. The fund has grown rapidly and as of 2021 has provided access to better housing for more than 1 million people.
The MicroBuild Fund’s first investment in Africa was a loan to the Entrepreneurs Financial Center in Zambia to help it develop loan products that allowed families to build or improve their homes. The microfinance institution used the funds to support more than 800 clients, 35% of whom were women, as they upgraded their own homes or built affordable rental units.
