Kiva conducts regular, ongoing monitoring of all Lending Partners, but only posts status updates here in response to relevant, major changes at the partner.

Status update - February 9, 2017

VisionFund Albania is under new ownership, and has changed its name to Agro & Social Fund.

Partner description:

Formerly known as VisionFund Albania, Agro & Social Fund is a microfinance institution that works in both rural and urban areas of Albania. It offers a range of loans and financial services tailored to meet the needs of its poor and traditionally underserved clients. As Albania is one of the poorest countries in Europe, Agro & Social Fund’s services fill an important need: providing traditionally “unbankable” clients access to capital. 

A unique lending approach:

A portion of Agro & Social Fund’s active clients are members of Albania’s Roma and Egyptian communities, which are the most vulnerable ethnic minorities in the country. People from these communities tend to earn a living from informal work in agriculture, reselling or recycling, meaning that their unemployment and poverty rates are extremely high.

With a social mission that distinguishes it from other banks and microfinance institutions, Agro & Social Fund has tremendous potential to serve Albania with microfinance solutions targeted to the poor. The organization offers agriculture, household and social loans designed to improve child welfare. Agro & Social Fund also offers special ‘startup loans’ at lower interest rates to encourage micro-entrepreneurs to start income-generating businesses to support their families. 


Repayment Performance on Kiva

    This Lending Partner All Kiva Partners
  Start Date On Kiva May 17, 2012 Oct 12, 2005
Total Loans $10,787,665 $2,061,427,940
Amount of raised Inactive loans $0 $389,200
Number of raised Inactive loans 0 318
Amount of Paying Back Loans $1,126,570 $151,289,490
Number of Paying Back Loans 506 180,128
Amount of Ended Loans $9,661,095 $1,864,455,145
Number of Ended Loans 6,480 2,517,146
Delinquency Rate 6.45% 11.61%
Amount in Arrears $45,185 $10,584,537
Outstanding Portfolio $690,972 $91,136,425
Number of Loans Delinquent 66 34,410
Default Rate 1.01% 1.83%
Amount of Ended Loans Defaulted $97,530 $34,072,925
Number of Ended Loans Defaulted 111 91,307
Currency Exchange Loss Rate 0.00% 0.47%
Amount of Currency Exchange Loss $134,972 $12,915,654
Refund Rate 0.21% 0.55%
Amount of Refunded Loans $22,725 $11,263,070
Number of Refunded Loans 17 9,868

Loan Characteristics On Kiva

    This Lending Partner All Kiva Partners
  Loans to Women Borrowers 54.24% 78.52%
Average Loan Size $1,544 $393
Average Individual Loan Size $1,544 $585
Average Group Loan Size $0 $1,914
Average number of borrowers per group 0 8.3
Average GDP per capita (PPP) in local country $10,700 $5,592
Average Loan Size / GDP per capita (PPP) 14.43% 7.03%
Average Time to Fund a Loan 14.1 days 9.14 days
Average Dollars Raised Per Day Per Loan $109.50 $43.02
  Average Loan Term 22.44 months 11.5 months

Journaling Performance on Kiva

    This Lending Partner All Kiva Partners
  Total Journals 4,414 1,228,670
  Journaling Rate 59.99% 41.93%
  Average Number of Comments Per Journal 0.00 0.02
  Average Number of Recommendations Per Journal 0.00 0.55

Borrowing Cost Comparison (based on 2016 data)

    This Lending Partner Median for MFI's in Country All Kiva Partners
  Average Cost to Borrower 31% PY 28.00% PY 27.12% PY
  Profitability (return on assets) 4.15% -6.7% -1.71%
  Average Loan Size (% of per capita income) N/A 54.00% 0.00%

Country Fast Facts

Lending Partner Staff

Lubjana Merruko
Daniela Qyra
Gentiana Sheshi