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 29, 2016

Kiva and Visionary Empowerment Programme have agreed to end their partnership after over 3 years and more than $162K in loans raised. This Lending Partner has repaid its outstanding balance to Kiva in full, and these funds have been distributed to lenders. We thank Visionary Empowerment Programme for the years of collaboration and wish them success in their future endeavors.

Partner Description:

Visionary Empowerment Programme (VEP) is a nonprofit organization that empowers people to build their own enterprises through microfinance, training and other development services. It encourages and promotes sustainable economic growth in rural areas, focusing mainly on women and youth groups by helping them to identify, design and develop strategies to create profitable enterprises.

VEP is a leader in providing microfinance solutions to groups running small scale farming and industrial businesses. To date, its lending program has impacted more than 7,000 families. Its loans are primarily  “group based” to streamline management and administration.

In addition to economic empowerment, VEP is committed to environmental conservation. In this area, it partners with the Kenya National Biogas Programme, working to construct numerous biogas plants in rural central and eastern Kenya. These plants reduce deforestation, save money on fuel, and improve soil fertility by producing organic fertilizers.

Also in the renewable energy sector, VEP works with several organizations to promote solar lighting and improved cooking stoves, including Paradigm Kenya, D.light Design, Trony East Africa and Barefoot Power. All of these initiatives are geared toward sustainable development and poverty alleviation.

Through current and future projects, VEP is working to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, allowing it to participate in and generate profit from the carbon credits market through Clean Development Mechanism.

A unique lending approach:

VEP is partnering with Kiva and utilizing its internal credit expertise and capacities to offer financing to its clients to buy energy-efficient sources of lighting and cooking. To reach a wider population and significantly impact off-the-grid communities, VEP is engaging Kiva funding in multiple ways:

1) By offering loans to groups for biogas construction and to purchase energy-saving jikos and solar lamps. These loans range in size from US$12 to $1,190. Loan terms will be 24 months.

2) By offering loans to help both female and male micro-retailers who sell energy-efficient cooking stoves to increase their inventories and incomes. These loans range up to US$1,765 per client and have a loan term of 12 months.

3) By offering end-consumer loans to people who want to replace kerosene with clean cookstoves. These loans will amount to US$35 per client and have a loan term of 24 months.