Grooming People for Better Livelihood Centre (Grooming Centre), a Nigerian microfinance institution, has emerged as Africa’s third-highest-scoring financial service provider in the 2026 60 Decibels Microfinance Index, with clients reporting improvements in their livelihoods, businesses and household welfare.
The Centre scored 84, behind Phakamani Foundation (89) and BRAC Microfinance Sierra Leone (86), earning recognition in the 2026 60 Decibels Social Impact Awards. The awards honour the three highest-scoring financial service providers in each region, based on direct client feedback.
According to the Index, 82 per cent of Grooming Centre’s surveyed clients said their quality of life had very much improved because of the financial services they received. Another 77 per cent reported that their business operations had very much improved, while 71 per cent said their household income had very much increased.
The findings highlight the importance of assessing financial inclusion not only by access to credit, but also by the changes clients report in their everyday lives.
The survey also examined household welfare. Some 65 per cent of the Centre’s clients reported that their physical living conditions had very much improved, while 75 per cent said their children’s school attendance had very much improved.
These results extend the picture of impact beyond business performance, offering insight into how clients perceive the relationship between financial services, household resources and children’s education.
Published by 60 Decibels, the 2026 Microfinance Index draws on interviews with 18,709 clients of 65 financial service providers across 35 countries. Now in its fifth year, the Index assesses six dimensions: access, loan product impact, household impact, client protection, resilience and agency.
Its standardised approach enables participating institutions to benchmark their performance and understand how clients experience their services.
For Grooming Centre, the recognition provides an external measure of client-reported outcomes. However, the findings reflect clients’ experiences and perceptions; they do not establish that the Centre’s services alone caused the reported improvements.
The results reinforce the value of placing clients’ voices at the centre of financial inclusion and measuring success by more than lending activity or repayment performance.
