Prospa is proud to support Kiva
Prospa is proud to support Kiva, a global non-profit organisation with a mission to connect people through lending to alleviate poverty. Kiva lets individuals lend as little as $25 to people around the world so they can take advantage of economic opportunities. 100% of every dollar lent via Kiva goes directly towards funding loans.
Kiva works with microfinance institutions on five continents to provide loans to people without access to traditional banking systems. Every employee at Prospa has supported a micro business somewhere in the world with a minimum $25 loan.
Greg Moshal, Joint CEO at Prospa, is passionate about Kiva. “The idea of helping people create better lives for themselves and their families through access to capital resonates completely with the core values of Prospa. And as a start-up organisation we’re totally committed to fostering long-term collaboration between our people and the non-profit sector.
“Kiva envisions a world where all people – even in the most remote areas of the globe – hold the power to create opportunity for themselves and others. The reality of empowering entrepreneurs around the globe with micro-loans reflects our commitment to the 97% of Australian and New Zealand businesses classified as “small’. We want to provide easy access to finance – and we are focused on helping small business in Australia grow through access to capital – so there is a huge amount of synergy.
Evidence micro-finance works – The big picture
According to CGAP, a global partnership of 34 leading organisations that seek to advance financial inclusion run under the auspices of the World Bank, comprehensive studies have demonstrated:
- Micro-loans helps low-income households meet basic needs and protect against risks
- The use of financial services by low-income households is associated with improvements in household economic welfare and enterprise stability or growth
- By supporting women’s economic participation, micro-loans help to empower women, thus promoting gender-equity and improving household well-being
- For almost all significant impacts, the magnitude of impact is positively related to the length of time that clients have been in the program
Access to savings, credit, insurance, and other financial services enables people to be more resilient and better able to cope with the everyday crises they face. Micro-loans can significantly reduce the need to sell assets to meet basic needs so people can cope with sudden increased expenses associated with death, serious illness, and loss of assets.
Access to credit allows people to take advantage of economic opportunities. Reliable sources of credit provide a fundamental basis for planning and expanding business activities. Many studies show that clients who join and stay in programs have better economic conditions than non-clients, and a few studies have also shown that over a long period of time many clients do actually graduate out of poverty.
By reducing vulnerability and increasing earnings and savings, financial services allow low-income households to make the transformation from “every-day survival” to “planning for the future.” Households can send more children to school for longer periods and to make greater investments in their children’s education. Increased earnings from financial services lead to better nutrition and better living conditions, which translates into a lower incidence of illness. Increased earnings also mean that clients may seek out and pay for health care services when needed, rather than go without or wait until their health seriously deteriorates.
A Kiva loan made with Prospa support – The micro-picture
Homero is 54 years old and lives with his wife and children in a rustic home in the small village of San Isidro in the rural Cajamarca region in the North Andes sierra of Peru. Homero and his wife grow coffee and sugar cane on two hectares to generate income to support their family.
Homero requested a loan of 2,000 Peruvian Nuevos Soles to buy manure and fertilizer to improve the quality and quantity of production for his annual coffee crop, attempting to increase his income levels and improve his family’s quality of life. He has borrowed money for fertilizer previously and successfully repaid the loan. The current loan is due to be repaid in December with profits from the previous year’s crop.
More examples of micro-loans at work
- In Bangladesh, families with access to micro-loans increased household assets by 112% and the incomes of members were 43% higher than incomes in non-program villages.
- In El Salvador, the weekly income of micro-loan clients increased on average by 145%.
- In India, half of micro-loan clients graduated out of poverty.
- In Ghana, 80% of microfinance clients had secondary income sources, compared to 50% for non-clients.
- In Lombok, Indonesia, the average income of micro-loan borrowers increased by 112%, and 90% of households graduated out of poverty.
- In Vietnam, Save the Children micro-loan clients reduced food deficits from three months to one month
