Fundación ESPOIR

Ecuador

Last updated March 20, 2013

Partner Description:

Fundación ESPOIR("mi bankito") is an Ecuadorian NGO that specializes in communal banking for hard-working women. The organization is based in Quito and has two branch offices outside of the city, one in Azuay (Cuenca) and one in Manabi (Portoviejo).

ESPOIR serves low-income women who live in the marginalized urban and rural areas of Ecuador and who are unable to afford basic necessities. These women may or may not have previous business experience. To qualify for credit through ESPOIR, the only requirement is that they commit themselves to working hard, learning new skills, and improving life for their families.

The majority of ESPOIR's portfolio is dedicated to group loans. However, its individual loan sector is growing, as long-standing entrepreneurs with ESPOIR "graduate" from group loans to take on larger amounts. In addition, ESPOIR offers emergency, university and home improvement loan products.

As of December 2010, ESPOIR had over 70,000 borrowers who are virtually all women, with a portfolio of over $42 million.

A unique lending approach:

The health and financial literacy services Fundación ESPOIR provides to clients distinguishes it from most microcredit organizations in Ecuador. Educational topics range from setting personal and business goals to understanding reproductive health and nutrition. The Cuenca office also includes a medical clinic where about 300 entrepreneurs a month receive health services for themselves and their families from the two doctors on staff.

Join our lending team: "Fans of Fundación ESPOIR"

Why Kiva Works With Fundación ESPOIR:

ESPOIR uses the village banking method to offer credit and education services to poor and marginalized women in urban and peri-urban areas of Ecuador with elevated poverty levels. The vast majority of its clients did not have access to credit prior to their first ESPOIR loan, and the institution works with clients to help them eventually “graduate” from small group loans to larger individual loans. Kiva funding enables ESPOIR to keep its cost of capital down, creating benefits that can be passed on to clients. For example, one ESPOIR branch office has an on-site health clinic that offers clients and their families unlimited access to medical tests, pre- and post-natal care, birth control counseling, and many other treatments for common ailments for just 75 cents a month per family. Since this service is not profitable for ESPOIR to operate, it would be more expensive to maintain without Kiva funding.

Repayment Performance on Kiva

	This Field Partner	All Kiva Partners
Start Date On Kiva	Jun 28, 2009	Oct 12, 2005
Total Loans	$6,453,500	$426,910,600
Amount of Raised Inactive Loans	$0	$238,825
Number Of Raised Inactive Loans	0	207
Amount of Paying Back Loans	$683,725	$94,248,000
Number Of Paying Back Loans	402	101,761
Amount of Ended Loans	$5,769,775	$332,423,775
Number Of Ended Loans	5,030	435,945
Delinquency Rate	2.09%	1.89%
Amount In Arrears	$7,682	$1,148,081
Outstanding Portfolio	$367,298	$60,666,465
Number of Loans Delinquent	8	8,937
Default Rate	0.04%	0.97%
Amount of Ended Loans Defaulted	$2,295	$3,220,059
Amount of Ended Loans	$5,769,775	$332,423,775
Number Of Ended Loans Defaulted	8	9,823
Currency Exchange Loss Rate	0.00%	0.02%
Amount of Currency Exchange Loss	$0	$77,435
Refund Rate	0.04%	0.95%
Amount of Refunded Loans	$2,875	$4,068,925
Number Of Refunded Loans	5	4,589

Loan Characteristics On Kiva

	This Field Partner	All Kiva Partners
Loans To Women Entrepreneurs	97.60%	74.04%
Average Loan Size	$533	$407
Average Individual Loan Size	$822	$646
Average Group Loan Size	$3,647	$1,744
Average Number Of Entrepreneurs Per Group	10.5	8
Average GDP Per Capita (PPP) in Local Country	$4,776	$3,346
Average Loan Size / GDP Per Capita (PPP)	11.16%	12.17%
Average Time To Fund A Loan	4.74 days	4.68 days
Average Dollars Raised Per Day Per Loan	$112.46	$87.00
Average Loan Term	4.14 months	9.61 months

Journaling Performance on Kiva

	This Field Partner	All Kiva Partners
Total Journals	2,937	203,892
Journaling Rate	55.39%	39.99%
Average Number Of Comments Per Journal	0.06	0.11
Average Number Of Recommendations Per Journal	0.33	2.72

Borrowing Cost Comparison (based on 2011 data)

	This Field Partner	Median for MFI Peers in Country	All Kiva Partners
Portfolio Yield	22.00%	22.80%	35.13%
Profitability (Return on Assets)	4.1%	1.6%	-0.15%
Average Loan Size (% of Per Capita Income)	14.00%	54.70%	47.07%

Country Fast Facts

Country:: Ecuador
Capital:: Quito
Official Language:: Spanish (official), Amerindian languages (especially Quechua)
Population:: 13,212,742
Avg Annual Income:: $4,776
Labor Force:: agriculture 30%; industry 25%; services 45%
Population Below Poverty Line:: 65%
Literacy Rate:: 92.50%
Infant Mortality Rate (per 1000):: 24.49 deaths
Life Expectancy:: 76.01 years