Social Issue

Only 30% of Tongan women have a job – 40% of these are underemployed and are engaged in subsistence agriculture, fishing, and crafts. 23% of the population lives below the poverty line. Opportunities for obtaining paid work are scarce.

Our Response

Microloans are a powerful tool for promoting small-scale productive activities, as well as helping farmers to become more productive.

SPBD Tonga is a microfinance institution created in 2009 after the success of SPBD Samoa, founded a few years earlier. It provides microcredits to women entrepreneurs with very low incomes, following the popular Grameen Bank methodology.

Expected Social Impact

With this investment of the Netri Foundation, it is estimated that SPBD Tonga will be able to provide 788 microloans to empower communities in Tonga.