Conscious capital responded

Monday, 13 December 2021 00:37 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Having successfully marked a historic milestone in Sri Lanka’s equity markets in November with its unique conscious capital drive, Sarvodaya Development Finance (SDF) is now poised to create maximum impact in the country’s rural markets.

Sri Lanka’s first conscious capital drive, also termed impact capital, launched by SDF, was oversubscribed within few hours easily achieving the targeted Rs 01 billion on the opening date of the IPO, 23 November. The response demonstrates the global credibility of the Sarvodaya brand and investor confidence in its financial services arm, SDF, and its future potential.

As the financial services provider of Sarvodaya, SDF is governed Central Bank of Sri Lanka and guided by the Sarvodaya philosophy of rural awakening and empowerment. While SDF has a wide-ranging clientele of urban and rural customers, as well as professionals and self-employed persons, the company is primarily involved in channelling funds to small entrepreneurs in the form of development finance lending, bulk lending to Sarvodaya Village Societies for grassroots redistribution, and other credit lines that encourage entrepreneurship and expansion of economic activities.

Due to its shared values with Sarvodaya, SDF does not provide credit lines for activities traditionally deemed anti-social by Sri Lankan Buddhist society, such as the manufacture and sale of alcohol, weapons, gambling, animal slaughter, etc. SDF’s unique IPO has now enabled global social impact investors to become partners in SDF’s social and economic development drive.

SDF currently has a total asset base of over Rs. 10 billion and operates through an islandwide network of 51 customer service centres/branches, manned by nearly 500 employees that serve over 435,000 customers in total. The company’s product range is regularly reviewed and upgraded to cater to customer needs, and includes micro business loans, society loans, leasing, SME loans, asset-backed loans and deposit products.

The latest capitalisation drive by SDF aims to expand the reach of its activities dramatically over the short to medium term. A key contribution by SDF is the empowerment of village entrepreneurs, particularly women, through a range of financial products and advisory support, including support in building vital market linkages to create new markets for small businesses.

The company’s portfolio has a 57% female representation, indicating a high level of support for women entrepreneurs, while 78% of its loan portfolio originates from outside the Western Province, demonstrating the company’s commitment towards its rural constituents.

Driven by a youthful, tech savvy and dynamic team and equipped with portfolio of specialised financial products and services, SDF is now capitalised to deliver on its promise of impactful and socially driven financial support for all Sri Lankans.