A Landmark Year for e-MFP: Activity Report 2026

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)

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.

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

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.

FAQ

1. What made 2025 a “landmark year” for e-MFP?
Several long-running threads converged at once: record demand for the European Microfinance Award, a governance evaluation that triggered real structural change, and quiet infrastructure work (gender lens tools, impact measurement frameworks) that shapes the sector for years even though it doesn’t make headlines.

2. What is the European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP)?
It’s the largest European network of organizations and individuals working in microfinance and financial inclusion across developing countries. Its 120+ members include investors, NGOs, development agencies, financial service providers, and researchers.

3. What was the 2025 European Microfinance Award about?
The €100,000 award focused on “Building Resilience through Inclusive Insurance,” recognizing organizations helping low-income communities manage financial risk through insurance. RADIANT YACU (Rwanda) won, selected from three finalists.

4. How many organizations applied for the 2025 Award?
103 organisations from 43 countries applied in Round 1 — a new record, surpassing the previous high set in 2022 in both applicant count and geographic spread.

5. Why is European Microfinance Week being renamed?
It’s rebranding to Inclusive Finance 26 (IF26) starting 2026 because “microfinance” no longer captures the sector’s full scope, which now spans digital finance, climate-smart lending, gender lens investing, and inclusive insurance.

6. Why did e-MFP hold its General Meeting earlier than usual in 2025?
Changes to Luxembourg’s ASBL (non-profit association) law required it. The meeting reviewed a government-commissioned mid-term evaluation, which praised the secretariat’s performance and recommended the rebrand.

7. What is the Gender Lens Investing Resource Portal?
A new e-MFP portal consolidating tools and research for investors and practitioners looking to integrate gender considerations into financial inclusion strategy.

8. What is the WASH Impact Indicator Framework?
A framework, now in pilot testing, that gives financial service providers a consistent way to measure the water, sanitation, and hygiene impact of their lending.

9. Why does this report matter for people outside e-MFP’s membership?
For funders, fintech founders, and researchers, it signals where the European financial inclusion sector is placing its bets for 2026 — record award demand plus a strategic rebrand isn’t cosmetic, it’s direction-setting for the whole field.

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