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

August 1, 2021 - COVID-19 Update:

Despite keeping COVID-19 largely outside of Fiji's borders for much of the past year, the spread of the Delta variant since April 2021 continues to worsen and the resultant restrictions imposed by the government are severely impacting business activities, particularly those of SPBD Fiji's borrowers. SPBD Fiji has taken a range of steps to help its borrowers navigate the financial pressures they face and alleviate loan repayment challenges. This includes measures to provide ad hoc grace periods and to reschedule the original repayment terms. While a lot of SPBD Fiji's loans have been restructured, the vast majority of these are now repaying on time according to the amended terms. However, the delinquency rate and loans at risk rate displayed on this page show much higher figures because these are calculated based on the original repayment schedules that were initially posted on Kiva during the fundraising period.

August 6, 2020 - COVID-19 Update:

Kiva has been in contact with SPBD Fiji to understand how we can best support their business and borrowers during the ever-evolving COVID-19 pandemic. We continue to prioritize the safety and well-being of all staff, borrowers and their families as this global pandemic continues.

While country-specific responses to the crisis vary, most governments have imposed curfews, travel restrictions, and nation-wide shutdowns. Fiji has imposed temporary moratoriums on loan payments, affecting not only microfinance, but the economy as a whole.

As a result, borrowers and SPBD Fiji may experience difficulty making and collecting loan repayments due to the aforementioned restrictions or fallout effects of the virus. Over the coming months, it’s possible that lenders will see a delay in repayments and new loans posted by SPBD Fiji. As an impact-first funder, Kiva is committed to serving our Lending Partners, as in past crises. We are sympathetic to temporary increases in repayment delays and delinquency in order to help Lending Partners and borrower communities recover. 

Kiva is working closely with SPBD Fiji to support them and their borrowers through the COVID-19 crisis. SPBD Fiji is sending regular updates to Kiva, and we'll update Partner Pages as we learn more. 

On behalf of Kiva and SPBD Fiji, we’re grateful for your continued support through this difficult time.

Partner description:

Part of the South Pacific Business Development network, SPBD Fiji was founded in 2010 and now has multiple branches on Fiji's 2 main islands, Viti Levu and Vanua Levu, which account for about 90% of the nation’s population. SPBD Fiji is affiliated with several other Kiva Lending Partners: SPBD Samoa, SPBD Solomon Islands and SPBD Tonga. In a region that has seen myriad financial inclusion initiatives fail, the SPBD network stands out as one of the only viable partners for Kiva because of its ability to provide socially driven microfinance services in a sustainable manner.

The majority of Kiva’s funding will be directed towards expansion of SBPD’s branch in Labasa, a town of about 28,000 on Vanua Levu.

A unique lending approach:

SPBD Fiji applies the same Grameen-inspired lending methodology used by the other SPBD partners, and organizes centers into self-selected groups of 4 to 7 members, with an average of 5 groups per center. Training programs are delivered for all members before each disbursement and on an ad hoc basis at weekly center meetings. New members typically start with a loan of about $500, and gradually gain access to larger amounts in subsequent cycles.

The main loan product offered by SPBD and funded by Kiva is a standard microloan disbursed primarily for developing small businesses, although repeat members can use loans to improve housing conditions and cover childhood education costs. Common business activities include growing fruits and vegetables, fishing, pig farming and weaving.

Kiva will also fund SME loans (small and medium-sized enterprise loans) aimed at borrowers with greater business capital needs than microloans are typically designed to meet, as well as a type of loan used for higher education that allows existing SPBD customers to borrow funds to cover the costs of a university education. SPBD disburses funds from these education loans directly to the university the borrower or someone from their immediate family is attending.

A Note on SPBD Fiji’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.
• They work extensively in rural areas, which requires their employees to engage in costly travel to find and serve their clients.
• They operate in a region known to be at risk of natural disaster, which increases the cost of doing business.
• They operate in an area with a limited or poorly functioning banking system. This makes it difficult to access funding locally, and makes it more challenging to send and receive payments on loans from outside the country.