Person-to-person micro-lending website

Canadians Matt and Jessica Flannery have set up the world’s first person-to-person micro-lending non-profit website, Kiva.org, to help low-income entrepreneurs in the developing world, thereby fighting global poverty.

On the Kiva.org website potential lenders can browse through profiles of low-income entrepreneurs and can loan as little as $25 to the entrepreneur(s) of their choice. The lender then receives regular updates from the Kiva.org website and can track repayments, see exactly WHO their money has gone to, WHAT they are doing with it and HOW they are making a difference.

For example, Kem in Cambodia received a small loan in order to expand her business selling water spinach. With the loan Kem and her husband bought more seeds and a motorbike cart to take the spinach to market. They were also in a position to rent another hectare of land to help increase production. As a result Kem is now planning to set up a stall at her local market which will generate even more income to enhance her family’s quality of life. To date $66 million dollars has been loaned to entrepreneurs like Kem. The money given is a loan and not a donation and repayments are made over the course of a 6 to 12 month period.

Small loans leading to a big difference!