Meta description: A look at e-MFP’s 2025 Activity Report — record-breaking applications, a new Microfinance Award winner, a royal visit, and a rebrand heading into 2026.
The financial inclusion sector doesn’t often get a “landmark” year. Most years are incremental — a few new members, a conference, a report or two. But 2025 was different for the European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP), and its own activity report makes that case with numbers, not adjectives.
For anyone interested in microfinance, this report highlights the key developments expected to shape the sector in 2026.
Quick Overview: 2025 at a Glance
- 103 organisations from 43 countries applied in Round 1 of the European Microfinance Award — a new record
- RADIANT YACU (Rwanda) named winner of the €100,000 European Microfinance Award 2025
- H.R.H. Grand Duchess Maria Teresa visited e-MFP’s House of Microfinance in April 2025
- General Meeting of Members held early (June 2025) due to changes in Luxembourg ASBL law
- European Microfinance Week officially renamed Inclusive Finance 26 (IF26) starting 2026
- New Gender Lens Investing Resource Portal launched
- WASH Impact Indicator Framework entered pilot testing
What Is e-MFP, and Why Does Its Activity Report Matter?
The European Microfinance Platform is the largest network of European organizations and individuals working in microfinance and financial inclusion across developing countries. e-MFP’s membership base includes:
- Investors and fund managers
- NGOs and civil society organizations
- Multilateral and national development agencies
- Financial service providers (FSPs)
- Independent researchers and consultants
With well over 120 members spanning these groups, e-MFP functions as the connective tissue of the sector — the place where knowledge gets shared, partnerships get formed, and the industry sets its own agenda.
e-MFP’s annual activity report showcases its key achievements, member initiatives, and major events while reflecting the direction of the European microfinance sector.
The Headline: A Record-Breaking European Microfinance Award
The European Microfinance Award was the highlight of e-MFP’s 2025 activities.
The award carries a prize of €100,000 and has recognized outstanding financial inclusion initiatives since 2005.
The 2025 theme focused on “Building Resilience through Inclusive Insurance.”
It honored organizations providing inclusive insurance solutions that help low-income and vulnerable communities manage financial risks
Why the numbers stand out
- First-round applications: 103 organisations, 43 countries
- Previous record (set in 2022): now surpassed in both applicant count and geographic spread
- Three finalists selected: Britam General Insurance, DHAN Foundation, and RADIANT YACU Ltd
- Winner announced mid-November 2025: RADIANT YACU (Rwanda)
That kind of jump in applications usually means one of two things: either the topic hit a nerve, or awareness of the Award itself has grown. Realistically, it’s both.
Along with the Award, e-MFP released its Members’ Spotlight 2025 on Building Resilience Through Inclusive Insurance, a companion publication that explores the practical insights shared by the finalists. Rather than being recognized once and then forgotten, these lessons are intended to be adopted, adapted, and applied across the financial inclusion sector.
A Royal Visit and a Governance Reset
Not every line item in an activity report is about numbers.
The royal visit: In April 2025, H.R.H. During her visit to e-MFP’s House of Microfinance, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa was formally acknowledged for her continued support of the European Microfinance Award. For an organisation built on strong partnerships and mutual goodwill, such recognition reinforces relationships that are just as important as financial backing.
The governance reset: e-MFP held its General Meeting of Members earlier than usual in 2025 — in late June rather than its typical autumn slot — because of changes to Luxembourg’s legislation governing non-profit associations (ASBLs). Key outcomes of that meeting:
- Chaired by Lucia Spaggiari
- Reviewed a 2024 mid-term evaluation commissioned by the Luxembourg government
- Evaluation praised the secretariat’s performance
- Evaluation recommended a rebrand of e-MFP’s public-facing activities — most notably its flagship annual conference
From European Microfinance Week to Inclusive Finance 26
That rebrand is arguably the most consequential structural shift to come out of 2025.
European Microfinance Week — the annual Luxembourg gathering that has pulled in 400-500+ financial inclusion leaders, policymakers, and researchers from around the world — is being renamed Inclusive Finance 26 (IF26) starting in 2026.
It’s more than a cosmetic change:
- “Microfinance” carries increasingly narrow connotations
- The sector now spans digital finance, climate-smart lending, gender lens investing, and inclusive insurance
- The 2025 Award theme itself reflected this broader scope
- The new name signals e-MFP repositioning for where the sector’s conversation has already moved — not where it started twenty years ago
Quiet Wins: Gender Lens Investing and the WASH Framework
Two other 2025 initiatives deserve attention, even though they didn’t generate headlines the way the Award did:
- Gender Lens Investing Resource Portal — e-MFP launched a dedicated portal consolidating tools and research for investors and practitioners looking to integrate gender considerations into financial inclusion strategy, a growing priority across development finance more broadly.
- WASH Impact Indicator Framework — the organisation’s Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) Action Group moved into pilot testing a framework designed to give financial service providers a consistent way to measure the water and sanitation impact of their lending.
It’s technical, unglamorous work — and exactly the kind of standard-setting that determines whether “impact” claims across the sector mean anything at all.
What This Means Going Into 2026
Step back from the individual line items, and a pattern emerges. e-MFP’s 2025 wasn’t landmark because of any single event — it was landmark because several long-running threads converged:
- Record demand for its flagship Award
- A governance evaluation prompting real structural change
- Quiet infrastructure work (gender lens tools, impact measurement frameworks) that rarely gets attention but shapes how the whole sector operates for years afterward
For anyone working in microfinance, impact investing, or financial inclusion — whether as a funder, a fintech founder, or a researcher — the practical takeaway is simple: watch Inclusive Finance 26. A rebrand backed by record applicant numbers and an explicit strategic evaluation isn’t just a new name on a conference banner. It’s a signal of where €100,000 awards, 120+ member organisations, and the broader European financial inclusion community are placing their bets for the next chapter of the sector.
e-MFP’s own report puts it plainly: the small team behind the organisation delivered an outsized year. Given what’s already lined up for 2026, it’s unlikely to be the last one.
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