Fonkoze is known to be Haiti’s Alternative Bank for the Organized Poor. It is a non-profit micro-finance institution committed to provide the people of Haiti with the financial and educational tools to improve their economic and social status, and reduce poverty in the rural areas of Haiti. The organization offers an array of programs and services include microcredit, money transfer, currency exchange, microinsurance, prepaid visa card, business development loans, health care and education programs, and diaspora services to build sustainable communities in Haiti. The Fonkonze loan fund helps support several entrepreneurs and small businesses in Haiti through a subsidized lending system interest rate. To locate branches of Fonkonze servicing different regions of Haiti, click here. To find out how you can help, click here.
Website supports English and Creole languages. Zafèn is an online tool created to improve Haiti’s economic, social and physical environment by providing financial resources to specific projects in Haiti, through a lending system mechanism that can lead to the growth of many Haitian entrepreneurial businesses. This tool allows both lenders and donors to access for-profit and non-profit business projects that have been previously reviewed by the Zafèn Steering Committee. Any loan made to any project can be tracked online. The projects cover different fields: agriculture, education and more. To submit a project, click here. To view a listing of Zafen projects to invest in, click here. Contact Zafen by sending an email to contact@zafen.org. Source: Caribbean Journal August 1, 2011 The Clinton Bush Haiti Fund has granted $850,000 to Fonds Haitien d’Aide a la Femme, a microfinance institution created and led by women. The grant will help hire and train Haitians for director positions, as well as update its lender technology system. “By reaching out to women through small business loans, we are also reaching out to her suppliers and customers in the community,” said Henrietta Holsman Fore, Clinton Bush Haiti Fund board member and former administrator at USAID. “Research shows that these microloans mean more than just invigorated businesses and empowered women, they also mean invigorated communities with education for children and healthcare for families. FHAF places a high value on pulling women into the Haitian economy, and it deserves the opportunity to succeed.” The grant will be accompanied by mentoring and strategic expertise from Nodus Consultores, an international consulting firm.Read more. Source: The Toronto Globalist May 23, 2011 Jeffrey Bower is a member of the Haiti Mobile Money Initiative aiming to promote financial inclusion in Haiti. His project involves working with a local telecommunications company to set up a financial system that allows anyone with a cell phone to open a mobile bank account. The national level of cell phone usage has risen astoundingly to over 50 per cent in recent years. Using a mobile account, those who normally lack access to financial services – due to no fixed address, unsteady income, branch access, etc. – can deposit, transfer and withdraw money all through a mobile phone.Read more. Source: Huffington Post October 8, 2010 Haitians like Jean-Patrick Lucien are one reason Zafèn, a new online microfinance program targeting small- and medium-sized businesses in Haiti, has been so successful. Action-oriented people like Chicago photographer Jennifer Girard are another. Zafèn is marking its six-month anniversary in October and has already amassed an impressive track record of success. It has raised $140,000 in loans and donations that have funded 300 projects. Zafèn provides access to capital for initiatives that will have a positive impact on Haiti's economy through a loan or donation that results in new employment, operational efficiencies and environmentally friendly measures. It was founded in April 2010 by the International Vincentian Family, DePaul University, Fonkoze, and the Haitian Hometown Associations Resource Group. Lucien is a co-founder of the Ile-a-Vache Development Group in Haiti. The organization's initiative to recycle coconut husks and other organic waste into charcoal as an alternative fuel was the first project to receive funding through Zafèn. A computer engineer who grew up in Haiti but stayed in Boston after earning his college degree, Lucien said, "Having spent over 15 years in the private sector in the United States, I realized that as a Haitian, I could not go back to do charity work. We started working with Haitian youths and helping them start their own businesses.Read more. Source: Microfinance Focus June 12. 2010 Inter American Development Bank (IDB) has recently approved $2.25m for Haitian Emergency Liquidity Program (HELP) to assist micro entrepreneurs and low income borrowers affected by the earthquake, by providing structured support to the microfinance institutions (MFIs) that serve them. The program will provide contingent recovery financing to temporarily acquire earthquake-related portfolio in arrears from eligible MFIs. This will allow beneficiary MFIs to re-establish their operations; refinance loans affected by the earthquake providing improved financing terms to its affected borrowers; free-up their capital, and access liquidity to continue borrowing and lending. IDB supports efforts by 26 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean countries to reduce poverty and inequality. Established in 1959, it is a source of development financing for Latin America and the Caribbean, with a strong commitment to achieve measurable results, increased integrity, transparency and accountability. Besides loans, we also provide grants, technical assistance and do research.Read more. Source: Microfinance Focus December 27, 2009 Zynga, a social game provider, announced that several of its top games will run holiday campaigns to raise money for FONKOZE, Haiti’s one of the largest micro-finance institution. Zynga will donate 50 percent of the proceeds from social virtual goods within its online games that run on Facebook and other platforms. FONKOZE, based in Port-au-Prince, is Haiti’s largest micro-finance institution and is committed to the economic and social improvement of the people and communities of Haiti and to the reduction of poverty in the country. The program expands on the company’s successful “Sweet Seeds” program within FarmVille that recently raised more than $800,000 for the benefit of children in Haiti. This holiday season, Mafia Wars fans can purchase a special Haitian drum that will help feed families and build school kitchens in Haiti through FATEM. Zynga Poker players who load up on a premium chip package will support women and children living in poverty in Haiti through Fonkoze, the largest micro-finance institution in the country. Gamers who play YoVille, Roller Coaster Kingdom and FishVille will also discover exclusive and festive ways to bring holiday cheer to their games, including the purchase of glitter globes and special food platters, while also contributing to improve the quality of life of those living in poverty.Read more.Microfinance
Fonkoze
Fonkonze USA
1700 Kalorama Road NW, Suite 102
Washington, DC 20009
Phone:(202) 628-9033 or (202) 628-9035
Email: Click here to contact them.Fonkoze's Haitian Diaspora Liaison
Katleen Felix
Office phone: 347-838-4156
Cell phone in USA: 917-375-6902
Cell phone in Haiti: (509) 3732-2215
Email:kfelix@fonkoze.org
Go to Fonkoze's Website.Zafen
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Zafèn Haitian Microfinance Effort Engages Haitians to Forge a New Future
IDB approves $2.25m Program for Haitian Microfinance Institution
Zynga holiday campaigns to support Haiti’s microfinance institution FONKOZE