Haitian microcredit just says no to kiva

I have been learning about Haiti lately. Too much to say about that "topic" in this blog - as if you can refer to the incredible human suffering taking place a short plane ride from Miami with such an impersonal word as "topic"

I emailed Leigh Carter, the ED of Fonkoze, a terrific microcredit group in Haiti - very well organized and professional, but no loans on Kiva? Here was her response.

from my email:

By the way, I am sure you are aware of Kiva and similar sites like OptInNow. I looked for Haitian loans recently on both of those sites and did not see any. Do you know why that might be?

[Leigh Carter] For now, here is our explanation around why we are not currently a partner with Kiva:

Fonkoze has analyzed whether partnering with Kiva is a prudent strategy for advancing its mission, and at this time (especially as the organization is faced with massive hurricane recovery) is not prepared to establish such a partnership.

The most important reasons for this decision, based on discussions with industry experts and organizations that have worked with Kiva, are as follows:
(1) Kiva's reporting requirements appear relatively burdensome,
(2) Fonkoze does not want to take on more foreign exchange exposure (dollar denominated debt) at this time (and is prioritizing securing debt in local currency, savings mobilization, and equity infusions),
(3) Fonkoze does not believe that Kiva has taken adequate steps on privacy issues vis-à-vis micro-loan recipients (though there has been some progress), and
(4) as a matter of principle and operational workability, Fonkoze believes that decisions on the approval and timing of individual loan disbursements should be determined by the borrower, her solidarity group, and the local loan officer rather than by Kiva. To the extent Kiva addresses these limitations of its model, Fonkoze and many other MFIs that do not now participate are likely to do so in the future.

Kiva and Microplace, Ebay's mfi play

If you are interested in Kiva's idea of personalized microlending, below is some commentary on a twist to their model.

This article compares Microplace with Kiva and in the process points out a few of the challenges of the business model :
from the post Submitted on www.nextbillion.net by Rob Katz on October 24, 2007 - 09:30.

"As P2P Lending News explains, [t]he big difference between MicroPlace and Kiva...is that loans will be securitized (and therefore potentially trade-able), and lenders will earn interest. Unlike Kiva, lenders on MicroPlace invest in microfinance by purchasing securities. Funds generated by these sales are then invested in microfinance institutions around the world. MFIs, in turn, solicit clients, make loans and collect payments - they do their normal day-to-day business.

Once client payments are in, the institutional investors receive their loan (plus interest) who can then pay back their investors - people who purchased those original securities. It's not as simple a model as Kiva's, but its differences are very important."

check out the post for full text. muy interesante...


best to you all -

Kala