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 — May 11, 2020

Kiva and ADIM have agreed to end their partnership after nearly 12 years and more than $6.4 million in loans raised. ADIM has ceased lending operations, selling its loan portfolio to another Nicaraguan MFI, SERFIGSA. ADIM has repaid its outstanding balance to Kiva in full, and these funds have been distributed to lenders. We thank ADIM for the many years of collaboration and the many borrowers served.

Status update — December 12, 2019

Kiva has moved ADIM to inactive status which means ADIM is no longer fundraising loans on Kiva, though Kiva fully expects the partner to continue to send repayments owed to Kiva lenders as long as the partner has an outstanding balance. The political crisis that began last year in Nicaragua has had severe economic effects, particularly in the urban areas of Managua and Masaya where ADIM works. According to the World Bank, GDP shrunk nearly 4% in 2018. ADIM has temporarily stopped disbursing loans as they recover from the crisis and evaluate a path forward. Kiva has recently refunded all loans fundraised by ADIM in November and December.

If and when this partner requests to fundraise again on Kiva, Kiva will first conduct any additional monitoring and due diligence tasks we believe necessary.

Risk Rating Change — April 10, 2019

Kiva recently re-assessed the level of risk associated with loans from this Lending Partner. During this process, our analysts gathered updated operational and financial information about the institution, spoke with key members of the staff, and analyzed the Lending Partner’s loan products. As a result, ADIM's risk rating is now listed as 1.5 stars instead of 2.5 stars. ADIM's clients are located in areas, such as Managua and Masaya, that have been particularly affected by the ongoing political crises. As a result, borrower repayment rates have suffered. ADIM continues to work closely with their borrowers, restructuring loans where needed and providing new loans to help clients persevere through the crisis. 

Status update — May 22, 2018

Protests have started in Nicaragua in late April against a since-canceled move to cut social security benefits and increase payroll taxes. People have taken to the streets in demonstrations that have called for President Ortega to step down. Unfortunately, these protests have resulted in the loss of life and a partial economic paralyzation of the country. Talks are currently on-going among all parties to resolve the situation peacefully. We have been in contact with our partners and are currently monitoring the situation closely as Kiva borrowers and partner staff have been affected by such political and social unrest. This might result in an increase in delinquency rates since a lot of informal economic activities have come to a complete stop. As more information comes in, we will update lenders accordingly.

Partner description:

• Founded in 1989 by Patricia Padilla, Sister Mary Alice McCabe and a small group of respected female entrepreneurs from the area of Masaya.
• A development institution that promotes micro-business development for the poor and provides access to capital for individuals who can benefit from micro-credit.
• More than 90% of clients are women (in addition to 47% staff and 100% of board of directors).
• Approximately 40% of clients are the primary income generators for the family.
• Of those 40%, 67% are between the ages of 46 and 61.
• Total number of clients: 3,738
• Coverage:  ADIM operates in the Southern Pacific region of Nicaragua, with offices in Managua, Masaya and Rivas.

  Awards:

• Mix/REDCAMIF Award of Transparency (2004 through 2009)
• ASOMIF Award for “Best Practice in the Area of Gender-Focus” (2009)

Financial Services:

• Group Loans/Solidarity Lending—This methodology promotes communication, trust, discipline and conflict resolution between groups of 3 to 6 individuals and accounts for 65% of loan portfolio.
• Individual Loans—Require a well-established business and account for 35% of loan portfolio.

  Additional Services Offered:

ADIM offers courses in the following areas:

• Business Development
• Development of Personal Autonomy
• Business Exchange
• Coordination of Economic Actors

*All courses are offered free of charge for ADIM’s clients and are oriented towards the women of Nicaragua.
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Update from Kiva Staff on July 7, 2011:

In recent years, the "No Pago" movement (a movement for non-repayment of loans) has created concern around the increased risk of loan non-repayment by Kiva borrowers in Nicaragua. As a result, last year Kiva posted a loan alert on Nicaraguan loans, warning lenders about the potential risks of lending to entrepreneurs in Nicaragua. Earlier this month though, the government passed a new microfinance law that has addressed many of these concerns. As a result, the situation appears to have resolved itself and the "No Pago" loan alert is being removed.

We will update this page if there is any additional information available.

Update from Kiva Staff on July 19, 2010:

In order to help you better understand the potential risks of lending to entrepreneurs in Nicaragua, Kiva continues to provide information on the “No Pago” movement (a movement for non-repayment of loans).

The momentum behind the No Pago movement appears to have largely dissipated, as a result of the National Assembly's passage of a law in April 2010. This new law allows delinquent borrowers (as of June 2009) to re-negotiate loans with more favorable interest and terms. Borrowers who were part of the No Pago movement were required to approach MFIs to re-negotiate their loans by May 12th of this year. While many borrowers did approach MFIs to re-negotiate their loans, it still only accounted for a small percentage of the members of the No Pago movement.

For Kiva lenders who previously lent to Nicaraguan borrowers: 

• if your loan had default coverage, then even if your loan was affected, the MFI will cover your loan for the full amount.
• if your loan did not have default coverage by the MFI: If the borrower you lent to did not approach their MFI before May 12th, their loan cannot be re-negotiated under the terms of the No Pago movement resolution. Kiva is working closely with its Lending Partners in Nicaragua to see if any Kiva clients have re-negotiated their loan under this law and will message to lenders accordingly.

For Kiva lenders considering making new loans in Nicaragua: it seems that as a result of the passage of this law and since the term for re-negotiation has passed, the microfinance situation is calmer in Nicaragua that previously. Kiva will continue to update the Kiva lender community if the situation changes significantly.

A Note on ADIM's portfolio yield:

We care deeply about the cost that Kiva borrowers pay for their loans, which is why fair pricing is a core part of our initial due diligence process for Lending Partners. With Kiva's 0% capital, many of our Lending Partners are also able to add additional value to their loans by reducing interest rates, offering non-financial services or creating new loan products.

For partners with reported portfolio yields or average APRs higher than 50%, Kiva takes steps to check that the high rates are justified by the impact of the loans. Kiva also verifies that the partner is not generating unreasonable profits or paying inflated salaries, and that the partner’s elevated operating costs are justified by its operating environment and/or the design of its loan products.

We seek to support loans that don’t impose an unjustifiable cost burden on hard-working borrowers. We nevertheless recognize that in order to reach vulnerable and excluded people with high-impact products and services, some of our partners incur high costs that necessitate charging higher-than-average costs to borrowers in order to allow for sustainability and scale.

Factors that drive up the costs that this partner organization charges its borrowers include:

• They provide very small loans. This leads to higher operating costs, since providing each individual loan presents a minimum per-unit cost.
• They provide more than just cash to many of their borrowers, including costly wraparound services such as healthcare, financial or business training, agricultural extension services, insurance or access to education.
• They’re based in an area with a high cost of living and doing business. This is often due to the high demand and low supply of adequate housing and goods.