What to know about this Lending Partner
Kiva conducts regular, ongoing monitoring of all Lending Partners, but only posts status updates here in response to relevant, major changes at the partner.
Status Update - February 2, 2022
Kiva and Fonkoze - Zafèn have agreed to end their partnership after nearly 8 years and more than $1,230,00 in loans raised. A recently passed law in Haiti prohibits Foundations from engaging in lending activities, which makes it impossible for Fonkoze - Zafèn to continue its lending program. This partner has repaid its outstanding balance to Kiva in full, and these funds have been distributed to lenders. We thank Fonkoze - Zafèn for the years of collaboration and wish them success in their future endeavors.
Status Update - October 11, 2019
Kiva has moved this Lending Partner to inactive status, which means Fonkoze - Zafèn is no longer fundraising loans on Kiva, though Kiva fully expects the partner to continue to send repayments owed to Kiva lenders as long as the partner has an outstanding balance.
Due to the recent round of protests, concentrated in the capital of Port-au-Prince, Fonkoze - Zafèn's clients are facing challenges that may make it difficult to repay their loans at this time. Should the political and economic situation improve, Kiva hopes to continue to support Fonkoze - Zafèn's much-needed development efforts. Kiva has been in communication with this partner, and we remain concerned about the safety and well-being of staff and clients affected by recent unrest.
If and when this partner requests to fundraise again on Kiva, Kiva will first conduct any additional monitoring and due diligence tasks we believe necessary.
Status update — January 25, 2016
After 18 months on Kiva and 155 loans fundraised, Fonkoze - Zafèn has graduated out of Kiva’s Experimental Partnership program and been given a risk rating of 1.5 stars.
Partner description:
Fonkoze (fonkoze.org) is Haiti’s largest microfinance institution, offering a full range of financial and development services to Haiti’s rural poor. Since 2004, they have worked to provide tens of thousands of Haitian women with a comprehensive approach to poverty alleviation.
Fonkoze is a family of organizations that includes:
• Fondasyon Kole Zepol (Fonkoze, the "Foundation”), founded in 1994 by a group of grassroots Haitian organizations and Father Joseph Philippe to provide financial services and education to the organized poor. The foundation also runs Zafèn (zafen.org), the lending platform that is partnering with Kiva.
• Fonkoze USA, founded in 1997, a 501(c)3 U.S. organization that raises funds for loans and grants to Fonkoze in Haiti.
• Sèvis Finansye Fonkoze, S.A. (Fonkoze Financial Services, "SFF"), spun off from the Foundation in 2004, SFF uses a business model to provide microcredit loans primarily to Haitian women as well as other financial services.
After the January 2010 earthquake, the Fonkoze Foundation launched an online “peer-to-project” lending platform called Zafèn to support small and growing businesses in Haiti. It was designed to facilitate contributions from the Haitian Diaspora and friends of Haiti. Zafèn is now using Kiva as its lending platform, which will enable the Zafèn program to reach more people. This partnership with Kiva is a natural fit, as it will allow Fonkoze to focus on working with borrowers, instead of on crowdfunding, thus reducing overall program costs.
Zafèn was founded by four organizations: Fonkoze, the Haitian Hometown Associations Resource Group (HHTARG), the International Vincentian Family and DePaul University.
A unique lending approach:
Fonkoze-Zafèn has 2 areas of focus:
• Small and growing businesses (SGBs) — Zafèn targets businesses that demonstrate potential for growth and fulfill a set of qualification criteria around job creation, environmental benefits, and potential for replication and community value addition.
• Village savings and loan associations — Providing loans to these associations can be difficult for regulated microfinance institutions, as these informal groups typically have no legal status. This type of loan enables Zafèn to provide access to financial services to the poorest segments of the population.