grassroots development

This is a message from a woman's coopertaive in Senegal that I have leant money to through the organization KIVA:

“We’ve taken many loans from other organizations, but we haven’t been able to save much because of the high interest rates and savings deposits that those loans required. This time is different, and I think that we’re going to make a good profit. SEM is the best lender of all.”

SEM is one of Kiva's many partner organizations that manage Kiva's microloans locally. Here is some background Kiva gives regarding its loans in Senegal:

Senegal is one of the world’s poorest countries, yet its solid democratic tradition and highly developed associational life distinguish it from other countries in its income group. Especially remarkable are Senegal’s networks of rotating savings and credit associations, known as tontines. Commonly organized by groups of twenty to thirty housewives who live in the same village, the tontines provide poor women throughout the country with small loans to finance modest income-generating activities. Repayment rates within these associations are excellent, because they are based on local reputation and personal trust between the members. However, their financial resources are limited to the contributions of their members, frequently subsistence farmers with very little disposable income. This has prevented the traditional tontines from meeting the demand for rural microenterprise loans and restricted their impact on the economic development of their communities. Senegal Ecovillage Microfinance (SEM) works with our partner organization CRESP to bridge this gap by linking traditional village credit associations with outside sources of finance.