Kiva conducts regular, ongoing monitoring of all Lending Partners, but only posts status updates here in response to relevant, major changes at the partner.

The name “Untu” comes from a Bantu word meaning “people.” With the desire to support a community of empowered entrepreneurs, Untu offers individual and group loans to economically active, low-income earners in Zimbabwe.  In addition, Untu provides basic business planning and financial management training to support the development of its borrowers.  Access to Untu credit allows borrowers to secure finance and improve the well-being of their community.

Due to the hyperinflation crisis of 2009, it is difficult for anyone to access a loan in Zimbabwe, and even more difficult for borrowers looking for microfinance loans.

A unique lending approach:

Untu offers SME, micro-enterprise, micro-housing, micro-leasing, and payroll loans along with trainings and group meetings. Untu is focused on incorporating technology into their operations in order to reach more clients and make the process of microfinance banking easier.

A Note on Untu’s APR:

We care deeply about the cost that Kiva borrowers pay for their loans, which is why fair pricing is a core part of our initial due diligence process for Lending Partners. With Kiva's 0% capital, many of our Lending Partners are also able to add additional value to their loans by reducing interest rates, offering non-financial services or creating new loan products.

For partners with reported portfolio yields or average APRs higher than 50%, Kiva takes steps to check that the high rates are justified by the impact of the loans. Kiva also verifies that the partner is not generating unreasonable profits or paying inflated salaries, and that the partner’s elevated operating costs are justified by its operating environment and/or the design of its loan products.

We seek to support loans that don’t impose an unjustifiable cost burden on hard-working borrowers. We nevertheless recognize that in order to reach vulnerable and excluded people with high-impact products and services, some of our partners incur high costs that necessitate charging higher-than-average costs to borrowers in order to allow for sustainability and scale. With this partner, Kiva capital is supporting a loan product that costs less than the partner's typical products.

Factors that drive up the costs that this partner organization charges its borrowers include:

• They pay high interest rates on the loans they take from banks and other funders, given the market in which they operate. This means they need more support from innovative sources like Kiva to reduce costs and pass savings on to borrowers.
• This partner is working in a country where doing business is difficult and costly due to regulatory, procedural and governance issues.
• They operate in an area with a limited or poorly functioning banking system. This makes it difficult to access funding locally, and makes it more challenging to send and receive payments on loans from outside the country.
• They work extensively in rural areas, which requires their employees to engage in costly travel to find and serve their clients.