Kiva launches in Chile

We are delighted to squeeze in one more new country to the Kiva portfolio before 2009 comes to a close - Chile! Kiva's Latin America team has been working hard over the past few months to offer Kiva lenders the chance to support borrowers in Chile's nascent microfinance sector. To do this, we have teamed up with Fondo Esperanza, the only organization offering group loans to poor and low-income borrowers on a national scale.

Fondo Esperanza's mission is “build development opportunities through the efficient provision of comprehensive microfinance services, in order to continually improve the living conditions of the poorest sectors of our country.” They are an impressive organization with 30 offices across the country, offering financial services and also informal education to over 30,000 borrowers.

There is currently one loan on the site, but we expect more in the next few days.

Happy lending!