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Haiti - Economy : Zafèn will increase the number of loans to small entrepreneurs 28/06/2014 11:01:02
Zafèn, which has raised nearly $2 million since it was founded in 2010, is a crowd-funded loan source for Haitian SGBs that do not qualify for traditional bank loans or microfinance and otherwise would not have access to capital. Zafèn also raises donations for social projects in Haiti with community benefit, including clean water, education and the environment. Zafèn provides SGBs with a range of quality financial services, training and business development programs designed to move them toward financial inclusion, increased employment opportunities and improved family economic security. Over the past four years, Zafèn lenders have funded nearly 500 business loans and donation projects. This has created more than 800 new jobs. Furthermore, Zafèn has trained hundreds of Haitian SGBs in financial best practices. Montreal-based Katleen Felix, president of the Haitian Hometown Associations Resource Group, says the Haitian Diaspora has been operating like small-scale social impact investors in their hometowns for decades. "Zafèn was designed with advice from the Diaspora to facilitate choosing viable businesses and providing much needed follow up in the field [...] This partnership with Kiva is an important milestone that will increase our base of users around the word who are ready to collaborate with the Haitian Diaspora and their hometown associations." Learn more about Zafèn : Zafèn, which means "It's our business" in Haitian Creole, uses crowdfunding to stimulate collaboration between Haiti-based business owners, the Haitian Diaspora and others interested in supporting the Haitian economy. To qualify for a loan or donation, businesses must demonstrate an anticipated impact on the broader community by hiring more employees, operating more efficiently, becoming more environmentally friendly or other measures. Zafèn was founded by four organizations: Fonkoze, Haiti's alternative bank for the organized poor serving more than 200,000 clients; the Haitian Hometown Associations Resource Group (HHTARG), which enables the Haitian Diaspora to foster economic and social growth to alleviate poverty in their native communities; the International Vincentian Family, an assembly of people worldwide affiliated with organizations who find inspiration in the legacies of St. Vincent de Paul and St. Louise de Marillac; and DePaul University in Chicago, the largest Catholic university in America. For more information, please visit: www.zafen.org Learn more about Kiva : Kiva is a non-profit organization working to alleviate poverty by connecting people around the world through microlending. With as little as a $25 loan, anyone can help a borrower create new opportunities for themselves and their family. Together with more than 780,000 Kiva lenders and a worldwide network of 142 microfinance institutions, Kiva has created economic opportunity for more than 815,000 borrowers. Since its inception in 2005, Kiva lenders have funded more than $320 million in loans with a 98.9% repayment rate. Kiva is headquartered in San Francisco, CA. For more information, please visit: www.kiva.org HL/ HaitiLibre
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