Page 36 - Islands Business January 2021

SPBD

CROWD-FUNDING AS POTENT DEVELOPMENT

FINANCING-THE KIVA MODEL

South Pacific Business Development is part of a global She became a member of South Pacific Business Develop-
movement as a field partner for Kiva, and international non- ment (SPBD) in 2008 to gain access to capital for her business.
profit organisation based in the United States, with a mission There are currently 95 opportunities for Kiva lenders to sup-
to expand financial access to help underserved communities port Fijian women on the organisation’s website www.kiva.org
thrive.
Kiva crowdfunds loans and unlocks capital, addressing HOW DOES KIVA WORK
the underlying barriers to financial access in the Pacific and
around the world. Lenders, individuals like you and I, simply By lending as little as US$25 on Kiva, loaners can support
visit the website and look for opportunities to lend to women the causes they care about.
and men. These opportunities can be sorted by location or by
sector, for example agriculture or retail.
Significant funds are mobilised into the region through Kiva 1. Choose a borrower
crowd-funding, 97% of which are invested through the SPBD Lenders can browse by categories
network in Fiji, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu. such as agriculture or locations,
They include Ana in Vusasivo, who was able to borrow including Fiji etc……
$500 to buy equipment for the harvesting, processing and
transporting of kava, and Sangita, who used her $2025 loan
to renew her taxi permit and buy spare parts. Lenders come
from all over the world, including Fiji. 2. Make a loan
In his letter to investors at the end of last year, Kiva CEO Help fund a loan with as little
Neville Crawley said: “We went into 2020 with a great plan— as $25
the chessboard was laid out, and we knew our next 30 moves.
Then COVID-19 hit, and every piece on the chessboard moved.
With your unwavering support, we were able to pivot our
plans to make a difference in this new reality.” 3. Get repaid
This pivot included ramping up the US lending program Kiva borrowers have a 96% re-
which saw loans to small American businesses grow by 80% payment rate historically
last year, and growing Kiva’s platform for institutional inves-
tors with over US$25 million secured.
Kiva also launched a COVID-19 Response Fund to sup-
port borrowers worldwide. More than 480,010 people lent 4. Repeat.
US$115,701,500 to 265,660 borrowers through the fund and Relend your money or withdraw
$7.7m was provided to field partners in crisis support loans. your funds.
The beneficiaries were entrepreneurs from all over the
world, women like Elenani, who has turned her love of tradi-
tional crafts into a business. She sells the baskets she makes
in the market and, if demand is strong, can earn $35 a day.
Elenani has created beautiful accessories such as necklaces,
earrings and bracelets since 2017. A loan of $1175 backed by
20 individuals has enabled her to add more tools and jewels
to her inventory. As a mother of five, her dream is to buy a
house for the family.
Elenani’s loan has also meant she can expand her tradition-
al dress business, to earn more income and fulfill her dreams.
Meanwhile in Samoa, 45 year-old Taape owns and operates
a shop in her village, selling a variety of items. She has been
doing this for six years.
Taape received a $4175 loan powered by 59 lenders to buy
a new display refrigerator, a chest freezer, snacks, frozen
goods, canned food, bags of rice, sugar, and salt. She hopes to
use her profits to pay for her family’s weekly expenses.

36 Islands Business, January 2021