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Paraguay > Fundación Paraguaya


The Fundación Paraguaya

The Fundación Paraguaya is a self-sustaining social enterprise which promotes entrepreneurship in urban and rural areas through three inter-related strategies:

1) A Microfinance Program aimed at smaller microentrepreneurs and emerging microentrepreneurs, who are generally neglected by other microfinance institutions

2) An economic education program for children and youth (Junior Achievement)

3) A self-sufficient agricultural high school, which teaches organic agriculture and entrepreneurial skills to low-income youth from rural areas, transforming them from “poor campesinos” into “rural entrepreneurs”.

The three programs are separate in budgetary and financial terms, but are closely integrated at the operational level so that each program enriches, and is enriched by, the other two. This synergy gives value added to each of the three programs and is the driving force behind our business model. It is also an important ingredient in the success of our microfinance program.

Our Microfinance Program is a profitable, well-managed business. During the last five years, return of equity has averaged 10%. In 2005, it was cited in the Inter-American Development Bank's League of Champions as the sixth most profitable microfinance program in Latin America. In 2004, 2005 and 2006, the program also won Honorable Mention in the Financial Transparency competition run by the World Bank-sponsored Consultative Group on the Poor (CGAP).

Our Microfinance Program differs from those of the competition in two key respects. First, our program concentrates on lending to smaller microentrepreneurs and emerging entrepreneurs, whose credit needs are generally neglected by the major microfinance institutions. The average loan size of our competitors is about $600; ours is less than $450, and our loans start as low as $40. Second, we offer our microfinance customers more than just loans. Thanks to our distinctive business model, we also provide a range of educational, business advisory and community development services to customers and their families. This enables the Fundación to position itself as a development, rather than a purely financial, institution, which gives it a competitive advantage over the regulated financial institutions (financieras) which are our major competitors.

Fundacion Paraguaya can be contacted via email at burt@fundacionparaguaya.org.py


Kiva Help Repayment Performance on Kiva

    This Field Partner All Kiva Partners
  Start Date On Kiva May 23, 2007 Oct 12, 2005
Total Loans $3,087,950 $118,121,935
Amount of Raised Inactive Loans $0 $147,475
Number Of Raised Inactive Loans 0 212
Amount of Paying Back Loans $630,425 $50,404,975
Number Of Paying Back Loans 682 68,278
Amount of Ended Loans $2,457,525 $67,569,485
Number Of Ended Loans 2,419 99,368
Delinquency Rate 0.00% 4.10%
Amount of Paying Back Loans Delinquent $0 $2,067,573
Amount of Paying Back Loans $630,425 $50,404,975
Number of Paying Back Loans Delinquent 0 7,071
Default Rate 0.00% 1.73%
Amount of Ended Loans Defaulted $0 $1,170,399
Amount of Ended Loans $2,457,525 $67,569,485
Number Of Ended Loans Defaulted 0 3,524
Currency Exchange Loss Rate 0.00% 0.00%
Amount of Currency Exchange Loss $0 $0
Refund Rate 1.75% 1.05%
Amount of Refunded Loans $54,050 $1,240,850
Number Of Refunded Loans 49 1,583
Updated as of February 9, 2010 12:38 AM

Kiva Help Loan Characteristics On Kiva

    This Field Partner All Kiva Partners
  Loans to Women Entrepreneurs 62.41% 78.07%
Average Loan Size $235 $401
Average Individual Loan Size $668 $595
Average Group Loan Size $2,289 $1,545
Average Number Of Entrepreneurs Per Group 17 0
Average GDP Per Capita (PPP) in Local Country $4,555 $3,429
Average Loan Size / GDP Per Capita (PPP) 21.86% 11.69%
Average Time To Fund A Loan 2.74 days 2.45 days
Average Dollars Raised Per Day Per Loan $85.84 $163.61
  Average Loan Term 8.60 months 9.27 months
Updated as of February 9, 2010 12:38 AM

Kiva Help Journaling Performance on Kiva

    This Field Partner All Kiva Partners
  Total Journals 283 60404
Journal Coverage 8.60% 29.57%
Journal Coverage, Kiva Fellows 0.00% 0.19%
  Journal Frequency (Average Per Loan Per Year) 0.06 0.31
  Average Number Of Recommendations Per Journal 7.20 8.87
Updated as of February 9, 2010 12:38 AM

Kiva Help Borrowing Cost Comparison

    This Field Partner Median for MFI Peers in Country All Kiva Partners
  Average Interest Rate and Fees Borrowers Pay (Portfolio Yield) 48% 30% 35.22%
  Average Partner Return On Assets (Average Profitability) 4% 4% -0.47%
  Average Loan Size (% of Per Capita Income) 20% 52% 43.94%

Field Partner Staff

Lourdes Agüero
Tania Almada
Rodrigo Alonso
Luis Antonelli
Martín Burt
Ever Estigarribia
Denysse Figueredo
Pasantes Fundacion Paraguaya
Roberto Gimenez
María Liz Kehler
Norma Morel
Lourdes Olmedo
Claudia Ortega
Kimia Raafat
Nancy Ramos
José Luis Salomón
Luis Fernando Sanabria
Roberto Urbieta

Kiva Help Country Fast Facts

Country: Paraguay
Capital: Asunción
Official Language: Spanish, Guaraní
Population: 6,158,000
Avg Annual Income: $4,555
Labor Force: Data unavailable by occupation. By sector: agriculture: 22.4% industry: 18.4% services: 59.2% (2006 est.)
Population Below Poverty Line: 32%
Literacy Rate: 94%
Infant Mortality Rate (per 1000): 26 deaths
Life Expectancy: 75 years
Currency: Paraguay Guarani
Exchange Rate: 4,620.0000 PYG = 1 USD