FPM was created in 2007 on the initiative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and UNCDF, in close collaboration with the Government of DRC. KfW joined UNDP/UNCDF a year later, and then the World Bank shortly thereafter. Originally, FPM was a component of the Microfinance Sector Support Programme (MSSP). It was authorized to operate as a non-profit organization under Congolese law in 2010 (ASBL). FPM then became a private entity with its own governance structure and capable of being sustained over time. The management of FPM was then entrusted to the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management, a German consulting firm based in Frankfurt. The 2010 institutional transition enabled FPM to respond to the new challenges of development finance in DRC and to make significant progress, particularly in terms of effectiveness and efficiency. At that time, FPM provided its partners mainly with technical assistance, although some refinancing was also done through an agreement with a commercial bank (BCDC) which was coupled with a guarantee mechanism. Naturally, this system was rather cumbersome and had obvious limitations. A non-profit organization is not an adequate tool for conducting refinancing operations. The non-profit-making FPM has therefore worked to create a specific entity dedicated to refinancing.