Readvertisement - Consultancy for Self-Help Groups Credit Profile Assessment and Graduation Model Manual Development

**1. Background and Rationale**

Habitat for Humanity Kenya (HFHK) is a national non-profit organisation committed to enabling vulnerable families to access decent and affordable shelter as a foundation for improved livelihoods. Recognising that sustainable housing is closely linked to resilient income systems, HFHK integrates shelter, water access, climate resilience, financial inclusion, and community capacity strengthening into its programming.

Solio Settlement Scheme in Laikipia County is characterized by semi-arid climatic conditions, erratic rainfall, and prolonged recurring drought. Agriculture and livestock are key income sources, but households face limited access to affordable finance, low business capitalisation, weak market linkages, and limited access to formal financial services.

With funding from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), HFHK is implementing a 39-month climate resilience project in Solio, combining climate-smart agriculture, water access, financial inclusion, savings groups, cooperative development, and livelihood strengthening.

Under the financial inclusion component, 20 Self-Help Groups (SHGs) have been established and are supported by trained Social Mobilisation community volunteers who help groups maintain savings, loan, repayment, attendance and financial records, and who conduct monthly monitoring of performance, governance and internal lending. This has generated a consistent operational and financial track record for each group. The groups' development to date has included formation and strengthening, savings mobilisation, governance and record-keeping support, financial literacy training, and internal lending/table banking. The groups have also been onboarded onto the Postbank M-Chama VSLA mobile wallet, a digitised record-keeping system that promotes transparency, efficiency and fraud mitigation.

This assessment will build on that existing record to determine each group's institutional maturity, financial discipline and credit readiness, without duplicating the monitoring and capacity-building support already provided by HFHK and the Social Mobilizers. Its purpose is to assess the 20 SHGs, score and rank them objectively against a transparent framework, and produce a practical Graduation Model Manual that HFHK can use to guide groups toward responsible access to formal financial services. The assessment will also examine the groups' use of M-Chama and their broader engagement with PostBank and other formal financial services.

## **Definition of the SHG Credit Profile in the Context of this Assignment**

For the purpose of this consultancy, the SHG Credit Profile is a structured, evidence-based assessment of each group's financial behaviour, institutional capacity, governance, internal lending history, savings performance, repayment discipline, economic potential, risks, and readiness to access and use external financial services.

The credit profile is not intended to function as an individual conventional commercial credit score. Rather, it will give HFHK a clear picture of the capacity and financial maturity of each SHG, and the extent to which the group has demonstrated the behaviours and systems required to responsibly access external finance.

The assessment will examine evidence of:

- Savings history and consistency
- Table banking/community-led lending
- Internal loan portfolio
- Loan repayment history
- Loan utilisation
- Financial records
- Financial discipline
- Membership and leadership stability
- Governance
- Group assets
- Previous engagement with financial institutions
- Access and use of M-Chama or other digital financial services
- Current and potential financing needs

The credit profiles will form the basis for developing a practical SHG Graduation Model Manual describing the stages through which an SHG can progress, the criteria and evidence required at each stage, the actions needed to address gaps, and the pathway towards responsible access to and use of appropriate financial services. To ensure that the graduation pathway is realistic and linked to actual opportunities, the consultant will undertake a focused consultation with at least six (6) relevant banks, MFIs, SACCOs and/or other financial service providers in and around Nanyuki.

**2. Purpose and Objectives**

**2.1 Overall Purpose**

The purpose of this consultancy is to undertake an evidence-based credit profile assessment of the 20 established SHGs in Solio Settlement Scheme, and to develop a practical SHG Graduation Model Manual. The manual will define the capacity levels, assessment criteria, progression requirements, and pathway through which SHGs can strengthen their institutional and financial capacity towards responsible access to and use of appropriate formal financial services.

**2.2 Specific Objectives**

The consultant shall:

- Assess and document the current financial and institutional status of each of the 20 SHGs, drawing on group records, Social Mobilizers' monitoring data and field verification.
- Develop and apply a transparent credit-readiness assessment and scoring framework covering savings behaviour, table banking/internal lending, loan repayment history, financial records, governance, management, membership stability, economic activity, financial-service utilisation, risks and financing needs.
- Categorise and rank the 20 SHGs by clearly defined capacity and credit-readiness levels, identifying strengths, gaps, risks and priority actions required for each group to progress.
- Develop an SHG Graduation Model Manual defining the stages of group development, minimum criteria for each stage, evidence required for progression, capacity-building actions, roles and responsibilities, and the pathway towards appropriate formal financial services.
- Review the requirements of selected relevant financial institutions and use the findings to ensure that the proposed graduation criteria and financing-readiness pathway are realistic and aligned with available financial services.
- Provide practical recommendations for sustaining and strengthening the SHGs, including longer-term financial, institutional and economic sustainability considerations and the roles of Social Mobilizers and HFHK.

**3. Scope of Work**

The assignment is a focused assessment and product-development consultancy, building on information and support systems already available within the project. The consultant's responsibility is to assess the current status of the existing SHGs, develop the credit-profile analysis and ranking, develop the Graduation Model Manual, and provide practical recommendations and tools that HFHK and the trained Social Mobilizers can subsequently use through the project's existing implementation and sustainability structures for financial groups.

**3.1 Inception and Desk Review**

The consultant shall:

- Hold an inception meeting with HFHK's Livelihoods, Project and MEAL teams to confirm the assignment scope, methodology, assessment criteria, tools, work plan and deliverables.
- Review relevant project documents describing the SHG financial inclusion intervention and the intended progression of groups towards access to financial services.
- Review monthly reports and monitoring documentation submitted by Social Mobilizers.
- Review available SHG constitutions, membership records, savings records, loan/internal lending records, repayment records, meeting records, financial statements/cashbooks, bank or digital financial records, and other relevant documentation.
- Review available information on financial literacy, group strengthening, M-Chama, PostBank and other relevant financial inclusion interventions.
- Identify information gaps requiring verification through field visits and consultations with SHGs and relevant project staff.

**3.2 Development and Application of the SHG Credit Profiling Framework**

The consultant shall develop and apply a standardised credit profiling and scoring framework for all 20 SHGs. The framework shall assess evidence of financial behaviour, institutional maturity and readiness of each group to access and responsibly use external finance. The consultant shall define the scoring system and weighting/basis for each criterion. The resulting scores shall be used together with qualitative evidence to categorise and rank the 20 SHGs. The methodology shall clearly distinguish between:

- Groups still strengthening their internal systems;
- Groups that are developing towards credit readiness; and
- Groups demonstrating sufficient capacity for appropriate formal financial engagement.

At a minimum, the assessment framework shall cover the following:

## **A. Group Development and Institutional Status**

- Date and circumstances of group formation
- Length of operation and stage of development
- Membership and membership stability
- Leadership structure and functionality
- Registration/legal status, where applicable
- Constitution and compliance with group rules

## **B. Savings and Internal Financial Performance**

- Savings frequency and consistency
- Savings growth and trends
- Member participation in savings
- Table banking/community-led lending practices
- Internal loan portfolio
- Loan utilisation
- Loan repayment performance
- Outstanding loans and arrears
- Evidence of financial discipline

## **C. Financial Management and Records**

- Availability and quality of financial records
- Cashbook, savings and loan records
- Bank/mobile/digital account records, where applicable
- Reconciliation and accountability mechanisms
- Internal controls and separation of responsibilities

## **D. Access and Use of Financial Services**

- Previous or current access to external financial services
- Evidence of credit history, where applicable
- Use of M-Chama or other digital financial platforms
- Group experience with PostBank or other financial institutions
- Previous borrowing and repayment experience
- Current financing needs and intended use of financing

## **E. Governance and Organisational Capacity**

- Functionality of leadership and committees
- Meeting attendance and participation
- Decision-making processes
- Conflict management
- Transparency and accountability
- Compliance with group constitution and procedures

## **F. Economic and Financing Potential**

- Current livelihood or enterprise activities
- Income-generating potential
- Market opportunities
- Existing productive assets
- Investment needs
- Capacity to utilise and repay external financing

## **G. Risk and Sustainability Assessment**

- Financial risks
- Governance risks
- Credit risks
- Market risks
- Climate-related risks affecting livelihoods
- Sustainability of the group beyond project support

## **3.3 Field Verification and SHG Assessment**

The consultant shall undertake field-based verification of information drawn from existing records. The assessment shall go beyond reproducing information contained in monthly reports; the consultant shall analyse trends, triangulate evidence, and interpret what the information means for each group's institutional development, financial maturity and credit readiness.

The 20 SHGs are located across:

- Village 3 — Bahati;
- Village 5 — Mathingira;
- Village 6 — Mukandamia; and
- Village 7 — Baraka.

The groups are geographically concentrated within an approximate 15km radius within Solio Settlement Scheme. The consultant shall plan the field assessment around this compact geographical distribution.

The consultant shall:

- Visit all 20 SHGs across the four project villages.
- Conduct structured discussions with group leaders and, where appropriate, selected members.
- Verify key financial and operational information against available group records.
- Verify evidence supporting savings, internal lending/table banking, loan repayment and other relevant financial indicators.
- Review the quality and consistency of group record-keeping and financial controls.
- Verify relevant evidence of external or digital financial-service engagement, where applicable.
- Document qualitative factors affecting group performance, governance, sustainability and credit readiness.
- Identify gaps between reported performance and documentary evidence, and explain material discrepancies.

## **3.4 Development of the SHG Credit Profile Analysis Report**

The consultant shall develop a standardised credit profile report for the 20 SHGs. Each profile shall be concise, evidence-based, and suitable for use by HFHK in programme decision-making and future engagement with financial service providers.

The consultant shall present the 20 SHGs in a comparative ranking matrix showing the assessment score, capacity level, credit-readiness status, key gaps and priority actions. The ranking shall be based on transparent, agreed criteria rather than the consultant's subjective judgement. The SHG Credit Profile Analysis Report shall include, at minimum:

- Individual assessment of each SHG
- Overall score
- Capacity category
- Credit-readiness category
- Ranking of the 20 groups
- Key strengths
- Key weaknesses
- Evidence of table banking/internal lending
- Evidence of repayment behaviour
- Evidence of external/digital financial-service engagement
- Current financing needs
- Key risks

The consultant shall:

- Present all 20 SHGs in a comparative assessment matrix.
- Provide the overall assessment score for each group and the basis for the score.
- Categorise the groups according to clearly defined development and credit-readiness levels.
- Rank the 20 groups using transparent, standard criteria rather than subjective judgement.
- Identify emerging, developing, credit-ready and/or finance- and investment-ready groups based on evidence.
- Identify the strongest and weakest dimensions of each group.
- Identify common gaps across the portfolio.
- Identify groups requiring further strengthening before external finance can be considered.
- Identify financing needs and potential financial-service pathways for different categories of groups.
- Identify common financial, governance, credit, market and climate risks.
- Provide priority actions for HFHK and Social Mobilizers.

## **3.5 Development of the SHG Graduation Model Manual**

The consultant shall develop a practical SHG Graduation Model Manual that HFHK can use to assess and support the progression of SHGs beyond the project's incubation and capacity-building stage. For the purpose of this assignment, graduation refers to the progression of an SHG from one level of institutional and financial capacity to a higher level of maturity, with increasing ability to independently manage group finances, undertake productive investments, and appropriately access and use formal financial services. Graduation shall therefore not be defined solely by the age of a group or the amount of savings accumulated.

The manual shall establish clearly defined capacity levels, for example:

**Level 1: Emerging / Foundational SHG**

Group is established but requires strengthening of basic governance, savings discipline, records and internal systems.

**Level 2: Developing / Strengthening SHG**

Group demonstrates functioning governance and financial systems but still requires strengthening in selected areas before external credit can be considered.

**Level 3: Credit-Ready SHG**

Group demonstrates sufficient institutional, financial and governance capacity to engage appropriately with selected formal financial service providers, subject to the provider's own requirements.

**Level 4: Finance- and Investment-Ready SHG**

Group demonstrates stronger institutional and financial maturity and has the capacity to consider larger or more structured financing for productive investment, enterprise or group-level economic opportunities.

The consultant may refine the number or terminology of levels where justified by the assessment findings, but the final framework shall remain simple, practical and applicable by HFHK staff and the Community Social Mobilizers. For each level, the manual shall define:

- Minimum institutional and governance requirements
- Financial-management and record-keeping standards
- Savings and internal-lending requirements
- Evidence of repayment and financial discipline
- Membership and leadership functionality
- Credit-readiness indicators
- Economic activity and investment-readiness indicators
- Key risks and risk-mitigation requirements
- Capacity gaps and recommended interventions
- Evidence/documentation required to demonstrate achievement
- Conditions required before progressing to the next level
- Roles of the SHG, Social Mobilizers and HFHK
- Linkages with appropriate financial service providers
- Sustainability actions required to maintain the achieved level
- Progression tracking format and recommended monitoring indicators

The graduation framework shall recognise that not all SHGs will progress at the same pace or require the same financial products. Graduation shall therefore be based on demonstrated capacity rather than automatically linked to borrowing.

## **3.6 Financial Access Requirements and Opportunity Analysis**

The consultant shall undertake a focused consultation with a limited number of relevant financial service providers, agreed with HFHK. The assignment should preferably engage an average of six (6) institutions, representing the types of financial services potentially relevant to the SHGs. The consultant shall compare these requirements against the profiles of the 20 SHGs and identify potential financing pathways for different categories of groups.

The consultant shall identify and engage relevant financial institutions operating within or accessible to the project area. These may include commercial banks, microfinance institutions, SACCOs, community-based financial institutions, and other relevant financial service providers.

Note: The assignment does not require the consultant to negotiate financing, process loan applications, secure loans, provide guarantees, or obtain credit approval on behalf of any SHG.

The consultation shall document, for each focus financial institution:

- Available group-lending and other relevant financial products
- Eligibility requirements
- Required documentation
- Minimum savings/contribution requirements
- Collateral, security, group guarantee or other risk-sharing requirements
- Loan limits and typical financing ranges
- Interest rates, fees and other applicable costs
- Repayment periods and conditions
- Credit assessment criteria
- Requirements for registration/formalisation
- Relevant digital financial-service requirements or opportunities
- Other conditions that may affect responsible access to finance by SHGs

**3.7 Methodology**

The consultancy shall use a mixed-methods, evidence-based approach, combining quantitative analysis, qualitative assessment and stakeholder consultation. The methodology shall include:

- Desk review of existing SHG monthly Social Mobilizer reports
- Review of primary SHG financial and governance records
- Structured assessment of all 20 SHGs
- Key informant discussions with group leaders and relevant HFHK staff
- Field verification of reported information
- Trend analysis of savings, lending and repayment performance
- Consultation with financial institutions
- Development and validation of the graduation framework
- Triangulation of information from different sources

## **3.8 Reporting and Coordination**

The consultant will report directly to the Programs Manager, and will be expected to work with other thematic leads, including:

- HFHK Livelihoods team
- MEAL Manager
- Other relevant project staff as designated by HFHK

HFHK will:

- Provide relevant project documents and existing SHG monitoring information.
- Facilitate access to Social Mobilizers.
- Support introduction of the consultant to the SHGs.
- Facilitate coordination with relevant project staff.