Living Standards

Financial exclusion goes hand-in-hand with poor living standards. FINCA's borrowers in Africa particularly struggle to have a decent quality of life. More than half live in homes without water. Nearly two out of five lack electricity. These problems are not isolated to Africa, however. Access to water is a problem that affects clients in every region. Also, more than a third of our clients live in a household whose main earner has only a primary education or less, which makes it harder for the family to get out of poverty.

Living Standards Data

Global

Africa

Eurasia

Latin America

MESA

Africa

All Africa

DRC

Malawi

Nigeria

Tanzania

Uganda

Zambia

Eurasia

All Eurasia

Armenia

Azerbaijan

Kosovo

Kyrgyzstan

Tajikistan

Latin America

All Latin America

Guatemala

Haiti

Honduras

MESA

All MESA

Jordan

Pakistan

88,042 50% Client homes without water % #

68,691 39% Client homes without electricity % #

109,903 63% Client homes without access to Internet % #

67,250 38% Clients who don’t own their home The rate of clients who don't own their own home is more than twice the global average (17%). % #

69,758 40% Head of household with primary education or less % #

3,398 16% Client homes without water % #

0 0% Client homes without electricity % #

6,160 29% Client homes without access to Internet Internet access in Armenia has been improving over the past few years, and is actually higher in Armenia than in the region overall. % #

637 3% Clients who don’t own their home % #

0 0% Head of household with primary education or less % #

7,145 28% Client homes without water % #

0 0% Client homes without electricity % #

14,800 58% Client homes without access to Internet % #

255 1% Clients who don’t own their home % #

754 3% Head of household with primary education or less % #

26,953 46% Client homes without water The DRC, Africa’s most “water-rich” country, is facing an acute water supply crisis with considerable social and public health consequences. Nearly half (46%) of FINCA’s borrowers lack access to safe drinking water. % #

9,375 16% Client homes without electricity % #

28,125 48% Client homes without access to Internet % #

30,469 52% Clients who don’t own their home % #

6,355 11% Head of household with primary education or less Among FINCA borrowers, 89% live in a household headed by someone with greater than primary education. % #

25,792 14% Client homes without water % #

1,330 1% Client homes without electricity % #

104,658 58% Client homes without access to Internet % #

5,971 3% Clients who don’t own their home % #

9,715 5% Head of household with primary education or less % #

177,432 29% Client homes without water Every FINCA region has clients who lack this basic service, including places like Tajikistan, Honduras and Afghanistan. % #

93,746 16% Client homes without electricity Outside of Africa, Honduras has the highest percentage of borrowers who lack electricity in their homes. % #

356,016 59% Client homes without access to Internet % #

115,612 19% Clients who don’t own their home % #

189,633 32% Head of household with primary education or less The lack of education is particularly notable in Latin America, but other regions are not far behind, especially MESA and Africa. % #

3,123 15% Client homes without water % #

2,082 10% Client homes without electricity % #

8,745 42% Client homes without access to Internet % #

3,123 15% Clients who don’t own their home % #

16,011 77% Head of household with primary education or less This is the second-highest percentage in the world, just after Afghanistan. % #

4,954 13% Client homes without water % #

14,863 39% Client homes without electricity % #

20,809 55% Client homes without access to Internet % #

12,577 33% Clients who don’t own their home % #

20,923 55% Head of household with primary education or less % #

5,645 30% Client homes without water % #

5,081 27% Client homes without electricity % #

9,597 51% Client homes without access to Internet % #

2,635 14% Clients who don’t own their home % #

12,865 68% Head of household with primary education or less % #

1,695 6% Client homes without water % #

283 1% Client homes without electricity % #

1,695 6% Client homes without access to Internet % #

11,303 40% Clients who don’t own their home % #

3,391 12% Head of household with primary education or less % #

3,269 13% Client homes without water Water quality is a common problem for rural households, which often rely on domestic wells with inadequate sanitation systems. % #

0 0% Client homes without electricity % #

5,029 20% Client homes without access to Internet % #

503 2% Clients who don’t own their home % #

6,864 27% Head of household with primary education or less This is 10x the regional average. Lower levels of education are especially common among women. % #

1,623 2% Client homes without water Although the population’s access to safe drinking water improved significantly during last decade, there are huge disparities among regions in the country. % #

812 1% Client homes without electricity % #

59,250 73% Client homes without access to Internet This is about 20 percentage points higher than in the overall region (55%). % #

4,058 5% Clients who don’t own their home % #

750 1% Head of household with primary education or less % #

13,723 18% Client homes without water % #

22,026 28% Client homes without electricity % #

39,151 50% Client homes without access to Internet % #

18,334 24% Clients who don’t own their home % #

49,799 64% Head of household with primary education or less % #

43,887 53% Client homes without water % #

43,887 53% Client homes without electricity More clients lack electricity in Malawi than anywhere else in the region. % #

55,479 67% Client homes without access to Internet High taxes and poor infrastructure, among other obstacles, make access to the Internet prohibitively costly, % #

25,670 31% Clients who don’t own their home % #

43,473 53% Head of household with primary education or less % #

49,875 29% Client homes without water % #

1,700 1% Client homes without electricity % #

102,305 60% Client homes without access to Internet % #

24,056 14% Clients who don’t own their home % #

60,361 36% Head of household with primary education or less The educational level of our clients' households is likely to drop even further as we expand deeper into rural areas. % #

No data has been collected yet for this indicator in Nigeria.

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48,179 34% Client homes without water Urbanization is putting even more strain on the water resources, especially in the rapidly-growing cities. % #

1,417 1% Client homes without electricity % #

100,609 71% Client homes without access to Internet At the time of the FCAT survey, most internet connections were fixed. Mobile broadband is growing in Pakistan and eventually replacing fixed connections. % #

12,753 9% Clients who don’t own their home While most FINCA clients own their homes, the urban housing situation in Pakistan is under pressure from rural-urban migration and rapid population growth. % #

56,971 40% Head of household with primary education or less % #

10,356 40% Client homes without water Outside of Africa, only Afghanistan has a higher share of customers without this basic service. % #

518 2% Client homes without electricity % #

19,418 75% Client homes without access to Internet This is 20 percentage points higher the regional average. Internet penetration is constrained by a limited reach of the telcom sector, the high cost of access, and widespread poverty. % #

518 2% Clients who don’t own their home % #

1,346 5% Head of household with primary education or less % #

4,831 55% Client homes without water % #

4,392 50% Client homes without electricity % #

7,026 80% Client homes without access to Internet % #

3,215 37% Clients who don’t own their home % #

6,802 77% Head of household with primary education or less The educational levels in Tanzania are much lower than in the other African countries. % #

9,319 50% Client homes without water In addition to the health risks from contaminated sources, the lack of running water imposes a physical burden on family members -- often children -- who are required to collect and transport it back to the house. % #

9,542 51% Client homes without electricity The electrical grid in Uganda is extremely limited and poorly maintained. % #

14,723 79% Client homes without access to Internet % #

5,405 29% Clients who don’t own their home This indicator is high throughout Africa. % #

10,437 56% Head of household with primary education or less Only Tanzania has a higher incidence of household heads who have a primary education or less. % #

3,053 49% Client homes without water % #

1,495 24% Client homes without electricity This is somewhat better than the rural conditions in neighboring countries, but not as good as DRC, whose clientele is primarily urban, like Zambia's. % #

4,549 73% Client homes without access to Internet % #

2,492 40% Clients who don’t own their home % #

2,692 43% Head of household with primary education or less % #

Living Standards

Living Standards Data

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