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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
Global Africa Eurasia Latin America MESA
Africa
All Africa DRC Malawi Nigeria Tanzania Uganda Zambia
Eurasia
All Eurasia Armenia Azerbaijan Georgia Kosovo Kyrgyzstan Tajikistan
Latin America
All Latin America Ecuador Guatemala Haiti Honduras Nicaragua
MESA
All MESA Afghanistan Jordan Pakistan
15,827 55% Client homes without water Clean water sources have been damaged or destroyed by years of conflict. Despite government action in this area, many communities rely on wells, rivers, streams, and water tanks when available. % #
2,878 10% Client homes without electricity % #
25,898 90% Client homes without access to Internet % #
4,316 15% Clients who don’t own their home % #
20,375 71% Head of household with primary education or less Less than a third (29 percent) have attained at least a secondary school education. This partly reflects the devastation of the educational system by three decades of conflict in the country. % #
92,300 50% Client homes without water % #
65,427 35% Client homes without electricity % #
118,808 64% Client homes without access to Internet % #
75,634 41% 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%). % #
76,817 42% Head of household with primary education or less % #
6,164 16% Client homes without water % #
0 0% Client homes without electricity % #
11,172 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. % #
1,156 3% Clients who don’t own their home % #
0 0% Head of household with primary education or less % #
4,007 28% Client homes without water % #
0 0% Client homes without electricity % #
8,301 58% Client homes without access to Internet % #
143 1% Clients who don’t own their home % #
423 3% Head of household with primary education or less % #
33,818 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. % #
11,763 16% Client homes without electricity % #
35,289 48% Client homes without access to Internet % #
38,229 52% Clients who don’t own their home % #
7,973 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. % #
1,142 8% Client homes without water % #
0 0% Client homes without electricity % #
2,856 20% Client homes without access to Internet % #
1,713 12% Clients who don’t own their home % #
5,369 38% Head of household with primary education or less % #
30,269 14% Client homes without water % #
1,296 1% Client homes without electricity % #
115,235 54% Client homes without access to Internet % #
7,344 3% Clients who don’t own their home % #
9,485 4% Head of household with primary education or less % #
245,292 29% Client homes without water Every FINCA region has clients who lack this basic service, including places like Tajikistan, Honduras and Afghanistan. % #
104,331 12% Client homes without electricity Outside of Africa, Honduras has the highest percentage of borrowers who lack electricity in their homes. % #
497,148 59% Client homes without access to Internet % #
153,347 18% Clients who don’t own their home % #
295,982 35% 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. % #
6,057 18% Client homes without water Rural people struggle to obtain safe drinking water, relying mainly on local wells or springs. % #
0 0% Client homes without electricity % #
13,460 40% Client homes without access to Internet % #
1,010 3% Clients who don’t own their home Many Georgians need to improve or expand their dwellings, especially those that are accommodating multiple generations under one roof, which is common in rural areas. % #
931 3% Head of household with primary education or less % #
6,207 15% Client homes without water % #
4,138 10% Client homes without electricity % #
17,380 42% Client homes without access to Internet % #
6,207 15% Clients who don’t own their home % #
31,821 77% Head of household with primary education or less This is the second-highest percentage in the world, just after Afghanistan. % #
6,704 13% Client homes without water % #
20,111 39% Client homes without electricity % #
28,155 55% Client homes without access to Internet % #
17,017 33% Clients who don’t own their home % #
28,310 55% Head of household with primary education or less % #
8,296 30% Client homes without water % #
7,467 27% Client homes without electricity % #
14,104 51% Client homes without access to Internet % #
3,872 14% Clients who don’t own their home % #
18,905 68% Head of household with primary education or less % #
2,337 6% Client homes without water % #
390 1% Client homes without electricity % #
2,337 6% Client homes without access to Internet % #
15,583 40% Clients who don’t own their home % #
4,675 12% Head of household with primary education or less % #
2,924 13% Client homes without water Water quality is a common problem for rural households, which often rely on domestic wells with inadequate sanitation systems. % #
4,498 20% Client homes without access to Internet % #
450 2% Clients who don’t own their home % #
6,139 27% Head of household with primary education or less This is 10x the regional average. Lower levels of education are especially common among women. % #
1,645 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. % #
823 1% Client homes without electricity % #
60,045 73% Client homes without access to Internet This is about 20 percentage points higher than in the overall region (55%). % #
4,113 5% Clients who don’t own their home % #
760 1% Head of household with primary education or less % #
23,658 17% Client homes without water % #
31,961 22% Client homes without electricity % #
65,929 46% Client homes without access to Internet % #
29,054 20% Clients who don’t own their home % #
88,968 62% Head of household with primary education or less % #
16,966 53% Client homes without water % #
16,966 53% Client homes without electricity More clients lack electricity in Malawi than anywhere else in the region. % #
21,447 67% Client homes without access to Internet High taxes and poor infrastructure, among other obstacles, make access to the Internet prohibitively costly, % #
9,923 31% Clients who don’t own their home % #
16,806 53% Head of household with primary education or less % #
99,065 32% Client homes without water % #
5,647 2% Client homes without electricity % #
197,176 65% Client homes without access to Internet % #
41,314 14% Clients who don’t own their home % #
120,713 39% 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. % #
1,309 16% Client homes without water Similar to the regional average. % #
245 3% Client homes without electricity Two times less than the regional average, reflecting FINCA Nicaragua's concentration in more urban areas. % #
3,435 42% Client homes without access to Internet % #
245 3% Clients who don’t own their home The rate of home ownership in Nicaragua is the highest outside of Eurasia. % #
4,563 56% Head of household with primary education or less While somewhat better than the regional average, this indicator is very high by global standards. % #

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

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80,901 34% Client homes without water Urbanization is putting even more strain on the water resources, especially in the rapidly-growing cities. % #
2,379 1% Client homes without electricity % #
168,940 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. % #
21,415 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. % #
95,663 40% Head of household with primary education or less % #
9,471 40% Client homes without water Outside of Africa, only Afghanistan has a higher share of customers without this basic service. % #
474 2% Client homes without electricity % #
17,759 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. % #
474 2% Clients who don’t own their home % #
1,231 5% Head of household with primary education or less % #
23,970 55% Client homes without water % #
21,791 50% Client homes without electricity % #
34,865 80% Client homes without access to Internet % #
15,951 37% Clients who don’t own their home % #
33,751 77% Head of household with primary education or less The educational levels in Tanzania are much lower than in the other African countries. % #
11,820 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. % #
12,103 51% Client homes without electricity The electrical grid in Uganda is extremely limited and poorly maintained. % #
18,675 79% Client homes without access to Internet % #
6,855 29% Clients who don’t own their home This indicator is high throughout Africa. % #
13,238 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. % #
5,727 49% Client homes without water % #
2,805 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. % #
8,532 73% Client homes without access to Internet % #
4,675 40% Clients who don’t own their home % #
5,049 43% Head of household with primary education or less % #

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© 2021 FINCA International

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