By Dickens wasonga,
The founders of the world’s largest micro-lending platform for social good, Kiva are in Kenya to officially open its Anglophone Africa Regional office in Nairobi, Kenya.
Matt Flannery and Premal Shah, the CEO, the President and Co-founders, respectively, officially open the Kiva Regional office based at the Strathmore Business School at Madaraka tomorrow.
The Nairobi office is Kiva’s first outside of the U.S., a tremendous milestone for the nonprofit organization, which was founded in 2005 to connect people through lending to alleviate poverty, expand economic opportunity and generally change lives for better.
“As we open the doors to our new office in Nairobi, we are opening the door for new opportunities at Kiva and exciting partnerships across Africa,” said Matt Flannery, CEO and co-founder of Kiva. “Nairobi is an emergent hub for social enterprise because of the entrepreneurial spirit that is nurtured here. By laying down roots in Nairobi, Kiva will be able to strengthen and expand innovative partnerships that help to advance our mission to alleviate poverty and advance economic opportunity throughout the region.”
Through Kiva, anyone with an Internet connection can make a loan as little as $25 to the borrower of their choice on Kiva.org. And with Kiva’s repayment rate of 98.9%, lenders are able to relend their money again and again, or withdraw it from the system. Kiva’s community of 900,000 lenders have crowdfunded more than $410 million in loans for one million people worldwide. In Kenya, more than 63,000 people have received a combined total of $20.5 million in loans funded by 250,000 people from 125 countries.
These microloans help borrowers start and grow businesses, go to school, buy clean energy products, and finance sustainable agricultural practices in Kenya and more than 65 other nations.
“Fundamentally, Kiva is about recognizing and supporting the potential that each person has whether they live in the next town or across the world,” said Premal Shah, Kiva Co-founder and President. “When we recognize and act on the potential in ourselves and others, as lenders or borrowers, powerful things can happen.”
Kiva leverages the power of collective good and new technologies to push the boundaries of economic opportunity in unique ways. To reach people on a local level — including some of the most remote places on earth — Kiva works with upwards of 150 partners, 14 of whom are in Kenya. These partners have traditionally been microfinance institutions that administer loans for borrowers. Increasingly, Kiva is partnering with organizations that do not have their own lending programs; partners such as universities, social enterprises, and non-governmental organizations.
Kiva’s partners in Kenya are opening up new and innovative loan products through Kiva’s flexible, risk-tolerant capital. Together with Strathmore University, Kiva offers smart students from low-income backgrounds an 11-year tuition loan, with a five-year grace period. These students are proving that tuition loans are viable investments, opening doors for students in the region and around the world. Students like Lydia from Turkana County in northern Kenya, who is the first in her family to graduate from secondary school.
“There are a lot of challenges that I have faced, but normally I encourage myself by saying, ‘What matters in life is not really where I am now, but rather the direction I am heading,’” said Lydia, who is studying for her Bachelor of Commerce degree at Strathmore. “I will never allow my past experiences to compromise the quality of my future. Given this chance by Kiva, my higher education can be achieved. Thanks to God for this opportunity.”
Kiva partner, Juhudi Killimo, provides financial services to over 7,000 smallholder farmers in rural Kenya, approximately half of whom are women. Juhudi’s mission is to provide market-driven, wealth-creating financial services including loans to acquire productive assets such as dairy cows, chickens and irrigation equipment. Another partner Komaza, helps borrowers convert drylands into productive family tree farms in Eastern Kenya. Komaza equips local farmers with the supplies and training they need to plant fast-growing trees on their unused land. This generates income for their families and creates a sustainable wood supply for local markets.
Kiva is continuing to innovate in Kenya through their new pilot project, Kiva Zip. Kiva Zip enables anyone –organizations or individuals who care about economic opportunity—to become Trustees and vouch for entrepreneurs seeking microloans to start or expand their small business. Once endorsed, borrowers can post their loan request on Kiva Zip and connect directly with Kiva’s growing global community of lenders to receive an interest-free loan. Loans are received and repaid via M-PESA.
Among the 53 Kiva Zip Trustees in Kenya is Shining Hope for Communities. Shining Hope combats gender inequality and extreme poverty in the Kibera slum, serving people who are generally not able to access traditional sources of credit. In just five months, Shining Hope has vouched for more than 50 women seeking to start or expand their small businesses, bringing additional income into their homes and families.
Kiva is a San Francisco-based nonprofit organization that connects millions of people around the world through lending to alleviate poverty and expand opportunity. With as little as a $25 loan, anyone can help a borrower start or grow a business, go to school, access clean energy and realize their potential. Since its inception in 2005, Kiva and their growing global community of 900,000 lenders have crowd funded more than $400 million in loans to over 1 million people, with a 98.9% repayment rate.
ENDS.