MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen-Jameel Microfinance Donates $1m to Kiva Partnership “Change is in Your Hands,” Supporting Microlenders in Middle East, North Africa; Offers Additional $1m in Matching Funds

Kiva, a US-based nonprofit crowdfunding organization that raises money for microfinance institutions (MFIs), and Grameen-Jameel Microfinance Limited, a Cyprus-based nonprofit joint venture of the US-based Grameen Foundation and Saudi Arabia-based Abdul Latif Jameel Community Initiatives, have reportedly entered into a partnership to launch the “Change is in Your Hands” campaign, an initiative which uses the website http://www.kiva.org/middleeast to support lending initiatives that will provide financing to entrepreneurs in the Middle East and North Africa. Grameen-Jameel has already committed USD 1 million to the campaign and is offering to give an additional USD 25 to each of the first 13,000 individuals that sign up to be lenders through Kiva’s Middle East regional website. Those who receive the USD 25 must use it to lend to a microlender through the site, and additional funds they choose to add will be matched by Grameen-Jameel up to a total of USD 665,000.

From 2005 through mid-2014, Kiva has raised funds for loans totaling USD 587 million that have been disbursed by 269 MFIs and similar organizations in 77 countries. As of June 2013, Grameen-Jameel reported working in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey and Yemen, providing financial guarantees totaling approximately USD 24 million that have facilitated local-currency financing of USD 53 million.

By Sarah Luo, Research Associate

About Kiva

Kiva is a US-based, nonprofit online portal that was established in San Francisco in 2005. It allows individuals to make loans to microfinance institutions (MFIs) to backfill loans that the MFIs have made to low-income borrowers. In 2012, Kiva launched a pilot platform, Kiva Zip, enabling users to lend directly to microentrepreneurs in Kenya and the United States. From 2005 through mid-2014, Kiva has raised funds for loans totaling USD 587 million that have been disbursed by 269 MFIs and similar organizations in 77 countries.

About Grameen-Jameel

Grameen-Jameel Microfinance was established in 2003 and was incorporated in 2007 as a joint venture of the US-based Grameen Foundation and the Abdul Latif Jameel Community Initiatives, a subsidiary of Saudi Arabia-based Abdul Latif Jameel Group. The company forms partnerships primarily with Arab microfinance institutions (MFIs), which it supports by providing loans for early-stage MFIs and guarantees for MFIs seeking to access local-currency commercial loans. As of June 2013, Grameen-Jameel reported working in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey and Yemen, providing financial guarantees totaling approximately USD 24 million that have facilitated local-currency financing of USD 53 million.

About Abdul Latif Jameel Foundation

The Abdul Latif Jameel Foundation (ALJ Foundation) was established in 2009 in the UK to develop and promote a portfolio of “sustainable global projects and solutions” involving training, poverty relief, arts, culture, environment, conservation, heritage, employment, and economic and community development. The foundation is a subsidiary of the Saudi Arabia-based Abdul Latif Jameel (ALJ) Group, a private automobile and consumer- finance company. No financial data for the Abdul Latif Jameel Foundation is available.

Sources and Additional Resources

Zawya: Kiva.org and Grameen-Jameel launch pioneering initiative to stimulate individual lending to Middle East’s microfinance borrowers

MicroCapital, July 18, 2014: Crowdfunders Zafèn, Kiva Announce Partnership to Support Small Growing Businesses (SGBs) in Haiti

MicroCapital, April 2, 2014: Buksh Foundation, Kiva Announce Partnership to Support Microentrepreneurs in Pakistan

MicroCapital, March 3, 2014:  Crowdfunders Kiva, Vittana Partner to Extend Student Loans for Higher Education in Developing World

MicroCapital, January 11, 2014: Grameen-Jameel Microfinance to Loan $2m Each to Microfund for Women of Jordan, Al Majmoua of Lebanon

MicroCapital Universe Profile: Kiva

MicroCapital Universe Profile: Grameen-Jameel

MicroCapital Universe Profile: Abdul Latif Jameel Foundation (ALJ Foundation)

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