Laura Pool, Director of Finance & Risk says: “It's not only about growth in the portfolio, but the quality.” In this interview she provides insights into the financial results, reflects on Oikocredit’s development and talks about how progress in 2019 will help Oikocredit face the ongoing coronavirus crisis.

As well as the financials, we introduce the people behind the numbers, who benefit from our work and remind us of the value of our financing and capacity building support. People like Jessy Chipindo, a client of Oikocredit partner EFC Zambia, who you see on the cover page.

Oikocredit's financial performance strengthened in 2019, with a net income of € 14.3 million (up from € 1.3 million in 2018). We made good headway in streamlining our business model, maintaining investor confidence and we received positive feedback from the organisations we finance. 

As the Covid-19 pandemic develops, Oikocredit is closely monitoring and responding to the situation. We now have a dedicated page with our latest Covid-19 updates, such as messages from our Managing Director Thos Gieskes, FAQs, resources for our partners and information on fraud protection.

Our data for the fourth quarter of 2019 includes a summary of the figures from our annual report. This includes the total number of partners and countries where we invest, and an overview of our funding by type, region and sector.