Kiva.org, a life-changing development platform – and also a learning tool

After scanning the website, week in, week out, for more than a year, I just became a member of Kiva.org at last. For those who may not yet know about this fantastic website, Kiva.org is a development loan marketplace matching supply (residents of OECD countries mainly) and demand (entrepreneurs from the developing world, selected by microfinance NGOs). I truly believe that Kiva is the ultimate loaning service, for a number of reasons (3, to be correct):

1. Better than when you give money to regular organizations, you actually know whom you’re helping out, where you’re contributing. It’s pretty satisfying.
2. Loans are not donations. Both represent complementary approaches, but I prefer loans for their moral virtues. In my opinion, non-anonymous donations create some kind of asymetry between people.
3. I expect pay back at some point so I had to make a little effort selecting the projects that seemed appealing. On top of that, selecting projects is a good investment exercise (I’ll keep you guys updated on refinancing).

As a start, I chose to finance 3 projects located on 3 different continents (don’t put your eggs in the same nest – I’ll select 3 new projects in something like 5/6 months, the time for me to put money on the side for loaning purpose):

• a pay-per-go phone service in Nakuru, Kenya; the entrepreneur’s name is Catherine (18, high-school educated, followed entrepreneurship training with the Ebony Foundation);
• a VoIP phone service in Bourgas, Bulgaria; the entrepreneur’s a woman named Eliana (40, experience in Russia in the same industry);
• a cosmetics retail project in Monclova, Mexico; the entrepreneur is Veronica (mother of 4, divorced).

As you may have noticed, all 3 projects are taken on by women. I went for inspiration reading about Mohammad Yunnus’s experience with Grameen Bank revealed that compared to men, women have a stronger sense of honour when burdened with debts. 2 are in the telecommunications industry: I was looking hard for infrastructure projects (infrastructure is key for development purpose), and these are close to being as such. When it comes to my choice for cosmetics, well, it’s a fast-growing industry in emerging countries, of which Mexico definitely belongs to.

 

Furthermore, all 3 projects still look for funds before getting properly started. So please, make sure you at list consider following me in this venture. Remember, this is no charity. You just contribute to forge entrepreneurial minds and foster socio-economic development in the regions you feel like helping.

 

Btw, I wish a tool like Kiva existed for early stage fundraising rounds, in countries lacking angel financing like France, Israel, or even worse – Spain, for instance.