Guidance

Community Led Infrastructure Finance Facility (CLIFF)

CLIFF provides loan finance for slum development projects that are implemented by the urban poor in India and Kenya.

This guidance was withdrawn on

The fund is now closed

Overview

The Community Led Infrastructure Finance Facility (CLIFF) provides loan finance for slum development projects that are implemented by the local NGOs working with urban poor in Angola, Burkina Faso, India, Kenya, Malawi, Nepal, the Philippines, Tanzania and Zimbabwe.

Aims

CLIFF is a strategic venture capital facility. It enables organised communities of the urban poor to expand their existing portfolios of demonstration construction projects that work for the poor as well as for the city as a whole.

These demonstration projects result in improved housing and sanitation for significant numbers of people. They are also used to influence the policy and practice of relevant organisations such as banks, local and national government, and international development agencies. CLIFF therefore seeks to have both a direct and indirect impact.

CLIFF is administered by Homeless International with funding from donors including the Department for International Development (DFID).

Why is it needed?

CLIFF provides small-to-medium scale capital grants and loans. Such funds help partners establish their own revolving loan funds to finance initial slum redevelopment demonstration projects. Medium-scale capital grants and loans help partners develop their revolving loan funds as they move towards implementing slum redevelopment demonstration project portfolios.

The urban poor and their support organisations have traditionally been unable to access affordable capital in the form of loans from financial institutions. Yet our partners continue to require increasing levels of capital to reach the stage where their initiatives are scaled-up to settlement or even city-wide level. Recognising that sustainable access to affordable finance from financial institutions is a key piece of the scaling-up puzzle, CLIFF plays a special role in plugging and bridging this gap.

Published 25 March 2013