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 — August 16, 2017
Kiva and SPIRE have agreed to end their partnership after more than 2 years and more than $17k in loans raised. This Lending Partner has repaid its outstanding balance to Kiva in full, and these funds have been distributed to lenders. We thank SPIRE for the years of collaboration and wish them success in their future endeavors.

Status update – August 11, 2015
Kiva has moved this Lending Partner to inactive status. This means that SPIRE is no longer fundraising loans on Kiva, though Kiva fully expects the partner to continue to send repayments owed to Kiva lenders for as long as the partner has an outstanding balance. This partner is currently inactive because they are focusing on a new strategy and taking time to develop a new type of loan. 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.

Partner description:

In Kenya, unemployment among new university graduates is about 40%. Spire was founded as a social enterprise to address this issue and help graduates obtain jobs.  One of the ways the organization does this is an education-to-employment course called the Career Accelerator program.
 

The curriculum, designed through consultation with employers, enables graduates to complement their academic training with professional skills such as business communication, leadership and sales. Spire also facilitates access to employer networks to help them find a job that matches both their interests and qualifications. By bridging the gap between conventional education and the professional world, Spire's Career Accelerator programme contributes to fighting graduate unemployment. About 95% of the graduates from the 6-week programme have received a job offer within 3 months.
 

A unique lending approach:

Education loans will help eligible students to finance and participate in the career accelerator program. Applicants are selected using a combination of aptitude testing, in-person interviews and academic grades.  Loans cover tuition fees as well as administrative/operational costs.

 

Repayment Performance on Kiva

    This Lending Partner All Kiva Partners
  Start Date On Kiva Mar 12, 2015 Oct 12, 2005
Total Loans $17,050 $2,056,436,760
Amount of raised Inactive loans $0 $246,055
Number of raised Inactive loans 0 235
Amount of Paying Back Loans $0 $158,330,245
Number of Paying Back Loans 0 188,292
Amount of Ended Loans $17,050 $1,854,343,460
Number of Ended Loans 46 2,501,455
Delinquency Rate 0.00% 12.18%
Amount in Arrears $0 $11,905,982
Outstanding Portfolio $0 $97,730,170
Number of Loans Delinquent 0 63,551
Default Rate 54.08% 1.84%
Amount of Ended Loans Defaulted $9,220 $34,038,827
Number of Ended Loans Defaulted 45 91,258
Currency Exchange Loss Rate 0.15% 0.47%
Amount of Currency Exchange Loss $26 $12,742,203
Refund Rate 0.00% 0.55%
Amount of Refunded Loans $0 $11,261,520
Number of Refunded Loans 0 9,866

Loan Characteristics On Kiva

    This Lending Partner All Kiva Partners
  Loans to Women Borrowers 47.83% 78.49%
Average Loan Size $371 $393
Average Individual Loan Size $371 $585
Average Group Loan Size $0 $1,913
Average number of borrowers per group 0 8.3
Average GDP per capita (PPP) in local country $1,800 $5,592
Average Loan Size / GDP per capita (PPP) 20.59% 7.03%
Average Time to Fund a Loan 1.22 days 9.13 days
Average Dollars Raised Per Day Per Loan $304.46 $43.04
  Average Loan Term 11 months 11.5 months

Journaling Performance on Kiva

    This Lending Partner All Kiva Partners
  Total Journals 0 1,225,264
  Journaling Rate 0.00% 41.91%
  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 2014 data)

    This Lending Partner Median for MFI's in Country All Kiva Partners
  Average Cost to Borrower 0% APR 36.00% PY 26.61% PY
  Profitability (return on assets) N/A 0.5% -1.32%
  Average Loan Size (% of per capita income) N/A 56.00% 0.00%

Country Fast Facts

Lending Partner Staff