CAF promotes crowdfunding to attract financing for microenterprises within Latin America

In order to address the financing needs of the micro-entrepreneurs within Latin America, CAF -development bank of Latin America- signed a technical cooperation agreement with Kiva, to support its crowdfunding platform through a Loan Matching Program.

Visitors to Kiva.org can choose entrepreneurs within Latin America that they want to support with a loan of USD 25 or more. Through this Program, every dollar lent to an entrepreneur in the region will be matched by CAF, up to a total of USD 180,000 with the aim to support between 200 and 400 micro-enterprises.

Crowdfunding, also known as mass financing, is the collective gathering of resources by many individuals to finance initiatives promoted by individuals or institutions, and it usually involves the use of the Internet. This modality has been used for diverse purposes such as financing for movies, political campaigns, social services, or to provide loans, which is Kiva´s specialty.

The mission of CAF -development bank of Latin America- is to promote sustainable development and regional integration through financing for projects from the public and private sectors, the provision of technical cooperation, and other specialized services. Created in 1970, it currently includes 19 countries, 17 from Latin America and the Caribbean, in addition to Spain and Portugal, and 14 private banks. CAF is one of the main sources of multilateral financing and an important generator of knowledge for the region. For more information, visit www.caf.com

Kiva is a non-profit organization, located in San Francisco (USA), whose mission is to connect people through lending to alleviate poverty. With as little as a USD 25 loan, anyone can help a borrower start or grow a business, go to school, access clean energy and realize their potential. Since 2005, Kiva and their growing global community of 1.3 million lenders have crowdfunded more than USD 600 million in microloans to over 1.4 million entrepreneurs in 79 countries, with a 98% repayment rate.

In Latin America Kiva has managed USD 171 million for 436,000 micro-entrepreneurs from 18 countries, and has an active portfolio of USD 15 million. In addition, Kiva's previous Loan Matching partners have included prestigious corporations such as Capital One, Trip Advisor, Knight Foundation, and Diller - Von Furstenberg, among others.