Pioneering change in Colombian communities
December 2023
Banco Mundo Mujer (BMM) in Colombia exemplifies resilience and empowerment in microfinance. Established 1985 after the Popayán earthquake, BMM has grown into a significant institution, focusing on financial services for women and rural communities.
It supports entrepreneurs such as Sandra Castro, who developed a successful bakery, reflecting BMM's impact. As of 2022, BMM managed a USD 505 million loan portfolio, making it the largest private microfinance bank in Colombia. BMM is committed to reducing poverty, supporting women, and fostering rural development.
Banco Mundo Mujer is a shining example of inclusive finance in action. Its commitment to empowering women and rural communities, coupled with impressive financial growth, highlights the transformative impact of microfinance.
It perfectly aligns with our mission at responsAbility to drive sustainable change through investments.
Banco Mundo Mujer's dedication to reducing poverty, promoting gender equality, and fostering economic growth is commendable and sets a benchmark for impactful investing in emerging markets.
Paul Cespedes, Senior Investment Officer, Financial Inclusion Debt
SDG 1 - No poverty
BMM caters to more than 115,000 rural clients annually, including around 2,500 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). It has also helped expand the insurance market in Colombia by serving over 550,000 insurance clients. This is a critical service, as insurance penetration in the Colombian market is currently less than 5%, according to data produced by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
BMM offered training in financial literacy to more than 400,000 clients in 2022, thereby contributing to market expansion efforts.
Value of loans disbursed in rural areas
Number of loans disbursed in rural areas
Average loan size
SDG 5 - Gender equality
Banco Mundo Mujer is a female owned business whose client base includes 320,000 women, and more than 5,700 SMEs owned or led by women (about 50% of the bank’s overall SME client base).
This is critical in a country like Colombia, where 70% of female-owned SMEs are fully credit-constrained (SME Finance Forum data). Internally, women account for 57% of their overall employee base.
Total female borrowers
Share of female clients
SDG 8 - Decent work and economic growth
BMM disburses more than 13,000 loans to Colombian SMEs annually. This is critical in Colombia, where over 40% of SMEs are estimated to be fully or partially credit-constrained.
In 2023, the company spent more than USD 200,000 on training for almost 5,000 employees.
