Social Issue

More than 25% of children under the age of five live in extreme poverty in El Salvador, and the percentage among the country’s rural population reaches 36%. Urbanisation is a problem which developing countries are facing: As cities grow and become the centre of economic, medical, and commercial activity, rural dwellers have less access to these resources. Currently, 60% of Salvadorans live in cities, which generates a higher poverty rate for all those who live outside of them.

Our Response

The Sociedad de Ahorro y Crédito Apoyo Integral (“Apoyo Integral” or “Apoyo”) is a non-bank financial institution in El Salvador created in 2002. It started as a microfinance programme of a non-profit institution created in 1993, the Fundación Salvadoreña de Apoyo Integral (FUSAI in its Spanish acronym), which was founded to support productive or non-profit businesses that generate a social impact on the most vulnerable segments of the population.

Expected Social Impact

With this investment of the Netri Foundation, it is estimated that Apoyo Integral will be able to provide 584 microloans to people who live largely in rural areas so that they can maintain their businesses, and the poverty caused by the lack of economic opportunities is reduced.