Introduction
Tarayana Microfinance (TMF) is a microfinance entity established by Tarayana Foundation, a Civil Society Organization in Bhutan that was founded by Her Majesty the Queen Mother of Bhutan in 2003. TMF focuses on poverty alleviation in rural Bhutan, targeting the remote and vulnerable rural communities through the provision of agri-based business-in-a-box and microenterprise expansion loans to develop the livelihood of the remote and vulnerable rural communities.
Oliver Wyman’s unique microfinance model of providing “business in a box” has equipped Tarayana’s beneficiaries with sustainable businesses. Very quickly, these beneficiaries become owners of a financially viable business with the skills to maintain it. As such, the impact is multiplied when the loan is repaid and redeployed to the next beneficiary – we don’t just have one family who benefitted, after a few cycles we have a whole series of families all equipped with their own agricultural business!Angelina Oguma, Partner, Oliver Wyman
Scope
Oliver Wyman first supported TMF in 2019 in conducting exploratory studies in the remote villages of Bhutan and designing an optimal microfinance operating model. Returning as a social impact partner in 2020, Oliver Wyman managed TMF pilot launch through loan mobilization efforts and scale-up plan design to greater number of villages to achieve TMF growth ambition. Support includes loan process development, staff capacity building, financial inclusion program review, IT system implementation, fundraising pipeline development, and grant proposal writing.
Incredibly grateful for this opportunity – to be at the right time and place to contribute my skills in bringing real impact to each beneficiaries’ lives. Moreover, to have the right platform through this Oliver Wyman collaboration to deliver a lasting, virtuous cycle of social impact in the communityShirley Simadiputri, Associate, Oliver Wyman
Impact
Delivering impact in remote and vulnerable communities of Bhutan required approaching this task from the beneficiaries' perspective. Oliver Wyman formulated an operating model that delivers sustained impact to its target beneficiaries. The project also focused on building a longer horizon scale-up initiatives to reach broader regions of Bhutan as well as developing a fundraising roadmap to fund this expansion. We evaluated a long list of 60+ international and regional funding partners, reached out to 20+ organizations, and converted 50% of them into warm funding and collaboration opportunities. We hope TMF continues to achieve significant growth and deliver a breakthrough impact on its beneficiaries lives in rural Bhutan.