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Who We Are
Fonkoze is “Haiti’s Alternative Bank for the Organized Poor.” It is the largest microfinance institution (MFI) in Haiti, serving more than 45,000 women borrowers, most of whom live and work in the countryside of Haiti, and more than 200,000 savers. With its network of 41 branches covering every region of Haiti, it is also the only MFI that is truly national in scope. Our comprehensive approach to poverty alleviation includes the following services:
- Micro-credit, using a solidarity group methodology of lending
- Small and medium sized business development loans to strengthen a business
- A number of different savings products
- Currency exchange services
- Money transfer (remittance) services
- Literacy, business skills, women's health, children's rights and environmental protection education for borrowers
- Social impact monitoring
- Life and credit microinsurance
- In the U.S., a prepaid Visa® card
- Housing rebuilding and repair for member-clients following the earthquake of January 2010
Moreover, Fonkoze is one of the few MFIs in Haiti that is truly grass-roots. Fonkoze was founded in 1994 by a Haitian Catholic priest who started the institution with little more than a vision: a vision to provide the means for all Haitians, even the poorest, to participate in the economic development of the country. His target group was women, because as he declared, “Women are the backbone of the Haitian economy and the doorway into the family unit."
