MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Kiva Refugee Investment Fund Closes with $32m to Scale Lending to Forcibly Displaced Persons, Host Communities Via Microfinance Institutions

The Kiva Refugee Investment Fund (KRIF), an entity controlled by the US-based NGO Kiva Microfunds, recently completed its first close, with USD 32.5 million raised from the Canada-based Fairmount Foundation and the following US-based organizations: Ceniarth, Dunn Family Charitable Foundation, Impact Access, Mercy Investment Services, Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Shapiro Family Foundation, Sobrato Philanthropies, Soros Economic Development Fund, Tiedemann Advisors, the US Development Finance Corporation and Vanguard Charitable. KRIF, which is managed by Kiva Capital Management, has earmarked the funds for “investing in proven refugee lending programs…[operated by] microfinance partners across the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America.”

Kiva Capital Management Chief Investment Officer Chad Sterbenz said, “We firmly believe that the impact from this fund will expand beyond the initial USD 32.5 million. Our goal is for this fund to de-risk and promote the idea of financial inclusion for fragile communities as not only the right thing to do morally but also economically.”

With a “mission to expand financial access to help underserved communities thrive,” Kiva Microfunds was founded in 2005 and has funding deployed in 80 countries across five continents as of 2021. Potential borrowers can apply for loans via Kiva.org or through field partners around the world. Individual lenders can fund loans in portions as small as USD 25, although they do not earn interest. During 2019, Kiva Microfunds raised USD 150 million from 474,000 lenders, funding 384,000 borrowers. Kiva Microfunds also operates the credit bureau Kiva Protocol and tests “new approaches to social impact measurement, technology, and impact investing” via Kiva Labs.

By Aakansha Shenoy, Research Associate

Sources and Additional Resources

PR Newswire press release
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/kiva-capital-management-announces-final-close-of-kiva-refugee-investment-fund-to-scale-lending-to-fragile-communities-globally-301264464.html

Kiva Microfunds homepage
https://kiva.global/

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