Financial services for informal sector entrepreneurs
Ecuador, 2012
Social Issue
Ecuador was one of the countries with the greatest inequality in the distribution of wealth in all of Latin America. As a consequence of this situation, millions of Ecuadorians migrated abroad and many others had to move from the countryside to the city, which is where most of the country’s economic activity is concentrated.
Our Response
The ESPOIR Foundation is a non-governmental organisation created as a Project Esperanza programme in 1992. In 2001, the programme moved to form an independent organisation focused on group loans, mostly to women. It is currently one of the largest entities offering these loans in Ecuador, providing microfinance and education to some 75,000 clients to strengthen their income-generating capacity.
Expected Social Impact
With this investment of the Netri Foundation, it is estimated that Espoir will be able to provide 1,200 microloans in the country to empower Ecuadorian communities in generating employment.