A Tanzanian microfinance, built for emergencies.

Emergencies have been causing a lot of problems to individuals, especially to those who cannot access immediate finance from banks. Death, illness, natural disaster and other catastrophes have devastating effects on households existing at or just above a subsistence level. With no asset base to draw on in a crisis, individuals have been forced to severely reduce their level of consumption, which has been dangerous – it has meant forgoing basic healthcare and nutrition. They may also sell off important, income-producing assets, worsening their economic difficulties well into the future. Ultimate Finance's founders saw this gap in the country and established a company that could issue finance for these emergencies in a very short time.

Micro-lending has existed in Africa in a traditional sense for generations. As Ultimate Finance defines it, micro-lending is unsecured, non-collateral-based lending on a small scale, for things like school fees, burial services, building supplies and hospital fees – items of an emergency nature. Money is advanced on the basis of the customer's ability to generate future income and repay at a more convenient time.

Some employers have traditionally run advances books for their staff. In today's environment it is not prudent to have working capital tied up in non-income-earning staff loans: they are difficult to manage and can spiral out of control as employees increasingly look to their employer for finance. The privatisation programme across Africa brought the abrupt termination of many staff loan systems by new corporate managers, leaving employees in a precarious position, while commercial banks have effectively restricted access to emergency credit for a significant portion of the population.

Without access to a formal group loan scheme or the formal banking sector, employees fall into the hands of unscrupulous and unregulated lenders. The solution is a regulated micro-lending company that gives formal access to credit for employees of established organisations.