Apex Institutions in Microfinance

January, 2002     Fred Levy

The paper reviews the experience of national microfinance apexes--wholesale mechanisms that channel funds, with or without supporting technical services, to retail microfinance institutions (MFIs) in a single country or integrated market. The question of the effectiveness of these apex mechanisms cannot be answered categorically, because evidence is limited, national contexts vary widely, and there are legitimate differences of view as to apexes’ objectives. However, some useful generalizations and lessons can be drawn. Most of these lessons could also be relevant for guarantee facilities that support commercial bank lending to MFIs, even though such facilities were not studied in the research leading to this report.