Building Markets

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

Update on 21 August 2023:

Kiva and Building Markets have agreed to end their partnership after $20,000 in loans raised. This partner has repaid its outstanding balance to Kiva in full, and these funds have been distributed to lenders. We thank Building Markets for the years of collaboration and wish them success in their future endeavors.

Update on 22 December 2017:

Kiva has moved this Lending Partner to inactive status. This means BuildingMarkets 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. The reasons a partner might become inactive include: taking time to develop a new type of loan, turnover on the partner’s management team, a shift in overall strategy or changes in funding sources. 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:

Building Markets is a nonprofit social enterprise that builds markets and creates jobs in developing countries. Read more of their founder’s story here.

Through their Sustainable Marketplace Initiative, they connect local suppliers with international buyers, creating a smooth supply and demand pipeline. They help the suppliers navigate business contracts with multilateral organizations and large international corporations in need of goods and services in the region. This initiative enables Building Markets to strengthen local businesses and create and sustain jobs. As part of the Sustainable Marketplace initiative, Building Markets also offers an invoice factoring program, which provides small and medium enterprises with a stronger cash position to manage and expand their business.

A unique lending approach:

Loans funded on Kiva provide Building Markets with capital for purchasing or guaranteeing unpaid invoices from small and medium enterprises. When Building Markets purchases an unpaid invoice, they provide a cash advance to the supplier as they wait for repayment from the buyer (a financial transaction known as ‘invoice factoring’). The supplier is any local business or enterprise providing a product or service, and the buyer is can be government aid agencies, UN agencies, NGOs, multinational concessionaires, and private companies that are in need of a service provided by the local supplier. Generally, invoice factoring is used by businesses to ensure they have the necessary cash flow to meet immediate business demands. In these cases, the loan is repaid to Building Markets by the buyer, once the local supplying enterprise has fulfilled the needed goods or services.