For the estimated 70% of the world population that lives on property without a formal land title, life can be precarious. The absence of ownership documentation raises families’ vulnerability to forced eviction and conflict; it precludes the use of the property to access financial services and other economic benefits; and it diminishes the value of property by restricting its transfer to an informal, opaque market. And yet, in many parts of the world, the process of obtaining a land title is not only expensive but also complicated and sometimes nearly impossible. In 2012, Habitat for Humanity International, a housing nonprofit based in Atlanta, tried to address that challenge. The organization launched a $100-million impact investment fund called MicroBuild that enabled partner financial institutions to offer housing loans to low-income borrowers worldwide. As part of its mission, the fund also sought to develop a viable business model for services that would improve borrowers’ land tenure security. By early 2021, an experiment in Indonesia showed promise and appeared to have overcome some of the problems that had impeded success in Africa and Latin America.

Gordon LaForge drafted this case study based on interviews conducted in April and May 2021. Habitat for Humanity, the Omidyar Network and the Hilti Foundation supported the development of this case study as part of an internal learning initiative. Case published July 2021.

For further reading on the MicroBuild Fund, see additional case studies from the Grunin Center for Law and Social Entrepreneurship at the New York University School of Law.

In the wake of the 2011 civil uprising that toppled a longtime dictator, Tunisia’s transitional government struggled to meet citizens’ demands for economic opportunity. Interim Finance Minister Jaloul Ayed saw limited access to financial services as a barrier to building the private sector and creating jobs, but the microfinance industry was overregulated and dominated by a majority-state-owned bank that loaned government funds to nonprofit associations, which in turn loaned to clients at unsustainably low rates. Ayed and his deputy, Emna Kallel, crafted a strategy to expand small businesses’ and entrepreneurs’ access to loans by revising requirements and opening the door to private-sector lenders under the watch of a new supervisory authority. The law upended the existing microfinance industry, creating new opportunities but also disrupting the government-funded associations. Four years later, uncertainties remained, but Tunisia’s microfinance sector had begun to move toward a market-based system under a new regulatory environment that allowed for the industry’s future expansion.  

Robert Joyce, ISS Research Specialist, and Natalie Wenkers of Science Po's Paris School of International Affairs, drafted this case study based on interviews conducted in Tunis, Tunisia, during September and October 2015. This case study was funded by the French Development Agency. Case published in February 2016.