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 — January 7, 2019

Pana Pana has repaid its outstanding balance to Kiva in full, and these funds have been distributed to lenders. We thank Pana Pana for the years of collaboration and wish them success in their future endeavors.

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.

Status update — October 31, 2017

Kiva and Pana Pana have agreed to end their partnership after over 4 years and more than $700,000 in loans raised. Kiva has moved this Lending Partner to inactive status, meaning Pana Pana is no longer fundraising loans on Kiva, though Kiva fully expects the partner to continue to make monthly repayments to Kiva to cover its outstanding balance. We thank Pana Pana for the years of collaboration and wish them success in their future endeavors.

Partner description:

Pana Pana is a nonprofit civil association founded in 1990 in Nicaragua. The organization’s official name is Asociacion para el Desarrollo de la Costa Atlantica (Association for the Development of the Atlantic Coast) but they have always been known as Pana Pana which means “mutual help” in the local language.

Established in Nicaragua’s post revolution era, Pana Pana aims to foster economic development mainly in the regions that were affected by revolutions and war. Pana Pana is located in the Region Autonoma del Atlántico Norte (RAAN), a semi-autonomous region in northeast Nicaragua that was particularly devastated during the war. The RAAN was remarkably cut off from the rest of Nicaragua until recently and has a very high indigenous population (90%, made up of Miskito, Mayangna and Creoles). Until now, geographically, the RAAN remains quite inaccessible.

The organization’s earliest projects supported families to rehabilitate homes that had been destroyed and plant basic grains and crops for their own sustenance. In coastal areas, Pana Pana’s focus was on teaching artisanal fishing techniques and how to construct canoes.

Today, Pana Pana offers loans for commerce, housing, and a small number of agriculture loans. They also have a small social development unit that runs Pana Pana’s non-financial services. This includes technical assistance for housing loans and the development of a water and sanitation project.

Kiva lenders’ funds are used to support the loan products including a) communal banks, b) water and sanitation and c) agriculture loans. Kiva is thrilled to help Pana Pana improve the livelihoods of the communities in RAAN.



A unique lending approach:
Pana Pana is working with communal banks exclusively in areas that have no other access to microfinance including Waspam. Due to the extreme distance that loan officers have to travel, high operating expenses have dissuaded Pana Pana from expanding this program. By financing communal banks, Kiva would be serving clients that have literally no other access to loans, and at the same time would be lowering Pana Pana’s cost of capital so that the operating expenses for expanding this product become affordable.

Additionally, Pana Pana is currently in the process of launching a water and sanitation loan product. Lack of drinking water and lack of access to proper sanitation facilities is a huge problem in the RAAN. In conjunction with Water Aid, Pana Pana will train women on how to make environmentally friendly toilets that are appropriate for rural use. Then the women will actually sell the product to rural families who lack access to sanitation services. Loans would be for the female entrepreneurs to obtain and assemble the product and to support the women as they begin the sales process. Pana Pana also plans to offer more agricultural loans in areas where agriculture is the main source of income. Currently, Pana Pana is offering very few agriculture loans. Since the organization has such limited funds, they cannot fund high-risk initiatives that will require long loan terms and a one year grace period. Kiva funding would enable them to support rural families that produce tubers and plantains on communal land.