Microcredit Enterprises Approves $1.9 Million in Loans Socially Responsible Guarantors Back Loans to Aid Rural Poor in Peru, Nigeria and Tajikistan

Davis, Calif. (PRWEB) October 1, 2006 -- MicroCredit Enterprises today announced four new loans totaling $1.9 million made to benefit women in developing countries. Two loans for $300,000 each will be made to organizations in Peru to Associacion Benefica PRISMA and EDPYME CONFIANZA S.A. In addition, Lift Above Poverty Organisation (LAPO) in Nigeria will receive an $800,000 loan and International Micro-Loan Fund IMON in Tajikistan will receive $500,000.

To help desperately poor people in third-world countries who do not have access to traditional banks, MicroCredit Enterprises makes interest-bearing loans to local microfinance institutions, like these four organizations. These microfinance instituions, in turn, make tiny business loans to the poor, especially women. MicroCredit Enterprises leverages the existing wealth of philanthropic individuals who act as guarantors to “guarantee” loans made to the poor.

In Peru, Assocacion Benefica PRISMA has a strong focus on serving the rural poor, a segment that is underserved in the relatively mature Peruvian microfinance market. PRISMA, established in 1994, today operates 14 offices serving 15,500 borrowers, 69% of whom are women. PRISMA’s average outstanding loan balance per borrower is US$277. The $300,000 MicroCredit Enterprises’ loan will provide capital for the development of a new Credit with Education loan product that is being implemented with technical assistance from Freedom From Hunger.

Also in Peru, $300,000 will also go to fund a Credit with Education loan product through EDPYME Confianza S.A. Established in 1998, EPDUME has 11 offices serving over 26,000 borrowers, 50% of whom are women. The total loan portfolio has grown to US$25.6 million primarily targeting micro and small enterprises.

Life Above Poverty Organisation (LAPO) in Nigeria has a deep commitment to serving very poor women microentrepreneurs. LAPO clients receive three in-depth trainings during each loan cycle on topics ranging from preventative healthcare, reproductive health to democracy and freedom of speech. LAPO started in 1991 and today is Nigeria’s largest micro-finance institution serving 54,460 clients. $800,000 will go to serve these clients 98% of whom are women and 47% rural. LAPO has an outstanding loan portfolio of $5.1 million. LAPO’s average outstanding loan balance is just $94.

$500,000 has been approved for International Micro-Loan Fund IMON. IMON was founded as a joint microfinance project of Mercy Corps and National Association of Business Women of Tajikistan in 1999. Today, IMON is the largest and strongest performing micro-finance institution is Tajikistan operating three branches and 16 sub-branches, serving 12,821 clients with an excellent loan portfolio of over US$5 million. IMON is serving microentrepreneurs in rural and remote areas of Tajikistan. IMON’s average outstanding loan balance per borrower is $391.

MicroCredit Enterprises has already guaranteed more than $1.7 million in microloans With the addition of these four new loans MCE will be guaranteeing over $3.6 million to recipients who have no credit history, no collateral and no formal education. Repayment of these loans is often higher than 99 percent.

“The MicroCredit Enterprises model is very appealing to socially responsible individuals and businesses, said Jonathan C. Lewis, MicroCredit Enterprises’ CEO, “It allows stakeholders to make significant difference in the world at a grass-roots level – securing thousands of loans to women who simply want to put food on the table and clothe their children – while still maintaining complete control of their collateral assets and realizing market-driven return on their investment.” MicroCredit Enterprises is actively seeking new guarantors to back the company’s microfinance program.

About MicroCredit Enterprises
Based in Davis, California, MicroCredit Enterprises is an innovative, not-for-profit, anti-poverty venture which leverages private capital to make tiny business loans to impoverished people, mostly women, in developing countries. MicroCredit Enterprises uses the collateral assets of individuals and institutions to borrow debt capital in the United States that is channeled through overseas, locally-run, non-governmental microfinance organizations. The impoverished loan recipients generally have no credit history, no collateral and no formal education, but with microloans, they create and build home-based businesses. MicroCredit Enterprises’ economic development objective is to reverse the cycle of poverty in economically distressed countries using the tools of the marketplace to provide self-help opportunities to millions of impoverished women and their families. On the Net: http://mcenterprises.org.

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