Micro credit, designed for poor countries, it expands in U.S. by the crisis

San Francisco Sonia and her husband are about to achieve his dream of expanding your business, a small neighborhood hardware store, thanks to micro credit , but this couple does not live in Rwanda or in El Salvador, but in New York.

Like millions of people in Third World countries, Sonia and her husband will benefit from the success of these loans to people without access to commercial banks, which both helped disadvantaged economies, which now makes its way into the First World.

The credit crisis that has shaken the U.S. in the last year has increased the difficulties of small businesses in obtaining financing and encouraged to specialize in micro credit organizations to apply models that are already successfully operating in developing countries.

Grameen America, a division of Bank of Grameen Nobel Peace Prize Muhammad Yunus came to the U.S. a year ago and, in view of the success, has opened a new office in Nebraska primarily to help the immigrant community in the area.

The organization has granted loans amounting to $ 1.5 million U.S. small businesses in a few years and expected to be present in all 50 states.

Kiva, an organization based in San Francisco which takes several years coordinating micro loans to small entrepreneurs in the Third World, has started operations this month in the U.S..

"Some of our lenders we were told that local people wanted to help," said Fiona Ramsey Efe, a spokesman for Kiva. "The timing was right because for U.S. small businesses is now much harder to get credit."

                    
Through its website, Kiva half between entrepreneurs and anyone wishing to make a contribution of at least $ 25.

Borrowers on the web explaining the details of the project and the time within which return the loan.

The lender recovers its capital without interest and may choose to invest in another project or donate to Kiva, which in the U.S. operates through the Opportunity Fund and Action USA, two institutions specializing in microfinance.

Among the thirty or so small businesses in the Kiva page dominated by Hispanic-around 85 percent, according to Ramsey, and it is always individuals whose personal circumstances have no access to conventional bank loans.

Mary, of San Francisco, you need $ 8,000 to open a daycare in her home and has already raised 53 percent of this amount. Carlos, of Queens, New York, asking $ 5,750 for business messaging and Ecuador still lacks about $ 3,000.

                                          

Lenders also tend to reside in the U.S., but projects like Kiva sometimes make is the one who helps South to North.

"One of our contributors is a Kenyan woman who wanted to help a small business in the U.S.," says Ramsey. "He could have chosen someone in your country, but said Africa had received so much help that it seemed logical to return part of it."

Despite the credit crunch in the U.S., these organizations face the problem of potential lenders feel that the money is most needed doing in the Third World and allocate their funds there.