How we will measure: the method behind the figures we will publish

Mtaji publishes its method before its figures, by choice. A number that cannot be traced to the transactions behind it does more harm than no number, above all to a development financier deciding where to place capital. So the method is published first, and the figures, when they come, will be read against it.

Define before counting

Every measure is defined before anything is counted: what qualifies, from which evidence, at which date. A business counts as women-owned when a majority of its equity is held by women; women in leadership is a separate measure, and the two are never combined. A business counts as first-time financed when, at its first disbursement on the platform, it holds no prior formal facility from a regulated lender. Where an investor’s framework defines a measure its own way, the report applies that definition and names the edition it used.

Count businesses, and keep the sides apart

The unit of count is the business, not the transaction, so one active firm cannot appear as many. Suppliers and distributors are always reported separately. They use different products with different obligations, and a merged figure would hide what each side experienced.

Reconcile to the record

A figure will be published only when it reconciles to the platform’s transaction record. What a business declared and what was verified are flagged separately and never added together.

Suppress small numbers

Any cell describing fewer than five businesses is suppressed. Small counts can identify the businesses behind them, and they are too fragile to mean much. Suppression is a rule applied before publication, not a courtesy applied after it.

When the figures come

The first figures will appear when the record behind them can be reconciled and enough businesses have been financed that suppression does not empty every cell. They will be published with this method beside them.