The South Pacific Business Development Foundation (SPBD), a Samoan nonprofit microfinance institution, plans to open a microfinance institution in Fiji on September 15, 2010. SPBD hopes to reach 20,000 Fijian clients “in the next few years” [1].
SPBD was founded in 2000 in Samoa, and since then has distributed approximately USD 13 million in loans to 12,000 Samoan households. SPBD also opened a microfinance firm in Tonga in August 2009, and through it distributed approximately TOP 700,00 (the equivalent of USD 357,000) to 700 Tongan entrepreneurs in its first few months of existence [2].
In July 2010, the Reserve Bank of Fiji required all commercial banks to establish “microfinance units” in order to expand access to microfinance, as well as to encourage foreign investment in the country’s financial sector [3].
By Lindsey Shaughnessy, Research Associate
About the South Pacific Business Development Foundation: The South Pacific Business Development Foundation (SPBD), a Samoan nonprofit microfinance institution, provides small, unsecured loans to rural women in the South Pacific. SPBD also provides housing and education microcredit. SPBD provided its first microenterprise loan in 2000, and as of 2008 has distributed approximately USD 13 million in loans to 12,000 Samoan households.
About the Reserve Bank of Fiji: Established in 1983, the Reserve Bank of Fiji (RBF) is the nation’s central banking authority. RBF’s statutory authority includes the following: to regulate the financial sector, to promote monetary stability and to foster balanced macroeconomic development of the country as a whole. As of May 2010 it had total assets of USD 1.26 billion. There is no information available on the number of banks that RBF oversees.
Sources and Additional Resources:
[1] Radio Australia News, “Microfinance firm to open in Fiji”, September 6, 2010. http://www.radioaustralianews.net.au/stories/201009/3003997.htm?desktop
[2] Microfinance Pasifkia, “SPBD-Microfinance Ltd (Toga) Launched”, September 7, 2010. http://www.microfinance-pasifika.org/spbd-microfinance-ltd-tonga-launched.html
[3] MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: “All Commercial Banks in Fiji Establish ‘Microfinance Units’”, July 29, 2010. https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-all-commercial-banks-in-fiji-establish-%E2%80%9Cmicrofinance-units%E2%80%9D/
MicroCapital’s Microfinance Universe profile: Reserve Bank of Fiji
MicroCapital’s Microfinance Universe profile: South Pacific Business Development Foundation
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