Eskala Inc
After 14 years of successful microfinance experience in Central America and Ghana as a nonprofit, Global Brigades (a current Kiva partner since 2015) realized that to scale its lending program, it needed to attract different types of external funding, thus the creation of Eskala. Eskala is a new legal entity that is a spin-off of Global Brigades' microfinance program. Eskala's goal is to be in the thousands of community banks, and Global Brigades (GB) did not believe their nonprofit could raise the necessary funds to meet that goal. However, the nonprofit (Global Brigades) owns most of the Company, so it is still benefiting as Eskala succeeds.
Eskala's mission is to structure and fund small or starting community-owned banks and farming cooperatives whose members have been historically excluded from essential financial services. Lending to community-owned banks allows individuals to access financial services and establishes a local financial entity to promote sustainable economic growth in the community by offering hyperlocal savings and loan products. Eskala's microfinance technicians serve in a typical loan officer role and provide substantial financial literacy education and training on successfully operating a community-owned bank to community leaders. This practice strengthens leadership and empowers community members (primarily women) to take ownership of a stable, local financial structure. These cooperatives use the loans for either strategic investments that benefit the entire group, like shared equipment/seed/land, or provide financial inclusion to the local population through smaller business and agriculture loans.
Repayment Performance on Kiva
This Lending Partner | All Kiva Partners | ||
Start Date On Kiva | Nov 24, 2022 | Oct 12, 2005 | |
---|---|---|---|
Total Loans | $380,425 | $2,048,758,690 | |
Amount of raised Inactive loans | $0 | $348,325 | |
Number of raised Inactive loans | 0 | 296 | |
Amount of Paying Back Loans | $144,475 | $153,933,040 | |
Number of Paying Back Loans | 18 | 183,991 | |
Amount of Ended Loans | $235,950 | $1,852,324,370 | |
Number of Ended Loans | 27 | 2,496,556 | |
Delinquency Rate | 1.35% | 11.72% | |
Amount in Arrears | $1,541 | $10,838,102 | |
Outstanding Portfolio | $101,233 | $92,466,642 | |
Number of Loans Delinquent | 1 | 38,146 | |
Default Rate | 0.00% | 1.82% | |
Amount of Ended Loans Defaulted | $0 | $33,752,032 | |
Number of Ended Loans Defaulted | 0 | 89,003 | |
Currency Exchange Loss Rate | 0.18% | 0.47% | |
Amount of Currency Exchange Loss | $886 | $12,742,203 | |
Refund Rate | 0.54% | 0.53% | |
Amount of Refunded Loans | $2,050 | $10,938,345 | |
Number of Refunded Loans | 1 | 9,670 |
Loan Characteristics On Kiva
This Lending Partner | All Kiva Partners | ||
Loans to Women Borrowers | 58.70% | 78.48% | |
---|---|---|---|
Average Loan Size | $8,315 | $393 | |
Average Individual Loan Size | $8,315 | $586 | |
Average Group Loan Size | $0 | $1,910 | |
Average number of borrowers per group | 0 | 8.3 | |
Average GDP per capita (PPP) in local country | $4,800 | $5,592 | |
Average Loan Size / GDP per capita (PPP) | 173.22% | 7.02% | |
Average Time to Fund a Loan | 20.98 days | 9.12 days | |
Average Dollars Raised Per Day Per Loan | $396.22 | $43.08 | |
Average Loan Term | 16.2 months | 11.5 months |
Journaling Performance on Kiva
This Lending Partner | All Kiva Partners | ||
Total Journals | 9 | 1,222,149 | |
---|---|---|---|
Journaling Rate | 18.18% | 41.92% | |
Average Number of Comments Per Journal | 0.00 | 0.02 | |
Average Number of Recommendations Per Journal | 0.00 | 0.55 |
Borrowing Cost Comparison (based on 2022 data)
This Lending Partner | Median for MFI's in Country | All Kiva Partners | ||
Average Cost to Borrower | N/A | N/A | 26.44% PY | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Profitability (return on assets) | -9.71% | N/A | -1.32% | |
Average Loan Size (% of per capita income) | N/A | N/A | 0.00% |
Country Fast Facts
- Country:
- Honduras
- Capital:
- Tegucigalpa
- Official Language:
- Spanish
- Population:
- 8,598,561
- Avg Annual Income:
- $4,800
- Labor Force:
- agriculture: 39.2%, industry: 20.9%, services: 39.8%
- Population Below Poverty Line:
- 60.00%
- Literacy Rate:
- 85.10%
- Infant Mortality Rate (per 1000):
- 18.72 deaths
- Life Expectancy:
- 70.91 years
Lending Partner Staff
Nancy AmadorSteven Atamian
Katy Colindres
Marcia Cortes
Matias Gonzalez
Colleen O'brien
Samuel Ponce
Luis Quan
Miguel Angel Rodriguez
Karla Sanchez
Isis Valle
Juan David Villegas
Lorena Zepeda