Gojo & Company, Inc.: Collaborate to Elevate - Microfinancing Through Strategic Partnerships

Gojo’s mission is to “extend financial inclusion across the globe” with the goal “to enable the provision of high-quality affordable financial services in 50 countries” (Impact Report, Gojo, pg. 4). They are a microfinance institution (MFI) that provides financial assistance mainly to individuals in five countries: Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, India, and Tajikistan (Impact Report, Gojo, pg. 10). They also have partnerships that extend into many other countries to a lesser extent. Gojo’s group companies provide services such as group loans, business loans, microenterprise loans, emergency loans, voluntary savings, affordable housing, microcredit depositing, and more to over 2.4 million clients. However, Gojo does face challenges inherent to the microfinancing industry. In the past two decades, the industry has seen increased commercialization. Multiple MFIs have gone public, putting their goals of alleviating poverty at odds with adding value for their shareholders. As a result, socially concerned donors are leaving to make room for more profit-minded investors (Impact Report, Gojo, pg. 2). For Gojo, this may lead to difficulty with growth. Instead of finding like-minded donors to work towards alleviating poverty with, Gojo may have to capitulate to outside investors who do not share the same goals, potentially impacting Gojo’s work and partnerships.