Ruth Kaseregenyi was named President of Envest at the end of 2024, and we are thrilled to have her with us. Ruth grew up in Jinja, Uganda, with five sisters and six brothers. She worked hard to get her bachelor’s degree in business administration, then her post graduate diploma in financial management.
Her career brought her to Rushere SACCO, a Savings and Credit Cooperative Organization. Ruth started out as a Branch Manager. Four years later she was promoted to CEO and asked to expand the SACCO to different parts of Uganda. She remembers: “I worked in a region where women are not easily considered for senior positions as they are perceived to be not strong enough or managerial enough to lead. I was determined to change that stereotype.”
Over the next few years, with her dedicated stewardship, the SACCO registered tremendous growth. Rushere was selected among the top ten best performing Tier Four institutions in the country by the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Cooperatives. In 2016 Ruth was introduced to Envest by the Association of Microfinance Institutions in Uganda.“Rushere was facing a high demand for loan products, but we did not have sufficient funds to meet the demand. We were mainly relying on member savings and could only use 60% of member savings for lending.” After Laura Dreese’s visit to Rushere and the due diligence process, the SACCO was approved to receive an Envest loan. “We were the very first partner in East Africa to work with Envest. This loan helped Rushere members cover school fees for their children, and purchase farm inputs, such as tractors, milk coolers, bio gas, and water harvest tanks.”
“In Uganda, most MFIs serve people who are unbanked. They are not accepted as clients of the traditional banks because they are considered high risk. Most of them are self-employed, do not have reliable sources of income, or don’t keep proper financial records. The Credit Reference Bureau doesn’t have data on the unbanked either. The MFIs are welcoming of this group and have products and services that suit their needs. Most MFIs are rural based and work with farmers or entrepreneurs, while those in the urban areas are employee-based. The Government of Uganda is supportive of the MFIs and established a Ministry for Microfinance Services. The MFI movement is growing strong, and I have seen firsthand how the lives of local communities have been impacted. Their lives improved due to the vital financial services and financial education. In my experience, women are more actively involved in the MF business, make more frequent small savings, and pay their loans on time. MFIs that have more women borrowers have registered near perfect timely loan repayment rates.”
In 2018, after being with Rushere SACCO for 12 years, Ruth had to say goodbye and move to North Carolina, in the U.S. She still keeps in touch with her SACCO, which is growing strong. “As I navigated my new life and the cultural differences, I continued to support the efforts of Envest by connecting them to other MFIs that I believed would be good Institutions to partner with. Today, Envest has four MFI partners in Uganda, four in Kenya, one in Rwanda, one in Zimbabwe, and we are looking into expanding to other African countries as we continue to do our due diligence. With time, Jon Bishop, Envest CEO and founder, asked if I was interested in an advisory board, then a board role, and I gladly accepted. I enjoy offering my sincere advice – based on my experience – on the MFIs considered for loans. But I was really surprised when in December 2024 I was invited to serve as the President of Envest. At first, I held my breath, wondering if I could manage to take on the new responsibilities being the first black female President of a U.S. microfinance cooperative. Then I looked at this leadership opportunity as part of my American dream story.”
Ruth intends to continue to steer Envest to greater heights, bringing new investors on board, working closely with the rest of the board, advisory committee and management to expand partnerships and provide good returns for investors. “My goal as President of Envest is to ensure that more of our partner organizations actively seek to grow the number of women they serve in local communities”.