BBVA Microfinance Foundation (BBVAMF) institutions supported more than 270,000 new clients in 2018, and now serve over 2 million entrepreneurs in five Latin-American countries. This is one of the figures in the 2018 Social Performance Report, recently presented in the Dominican Republic, Colombia, Peru and Chile. This report shows how the Foundation’s entrepreneurs get ahead thanks to the income generated from their microenterprises.
Of the Foundation’s 270,000 new clients, 84% are living under vulnerable conditions, 57% are women and 33% live in rural areas. Furthermore, 32% possess only primary education at best and 34% are under 30 years old. “This support for the youth is important because they are society’s future”, pointed out the head of Analysis in the BBVAMF Impact Assessment & Strategic Development, Isabel García. Social performance data are, she says, “a guide showing the way so that we don’t swerve from the purpose, which is the development of vulnerable entrepreneurs.”
The report also indicates that 34% of entrepreneurs abandon poverty after two years of working with the Foundation’s MFIs, that help them access credit, savings account, microinsurance, financial education and skills training. Thanks to this support and to the long-term accompaniment from the Foundation’s officers, 55% raised their incomes in 2018, while their assets and sales grew at annual rates of 23% and 17%, respectively.
“Women’s enterprises show the fastest growth, but are also the most vulnerable”, Isabel García shared during the presentations of the report, which focused on one of the Foundation’s strategic priorities: women. The lack of work opportunities and the large amount of time they spend on unpaid work and looking after their families limit their scope for generating income. As she said, “as an alternative to economic dependence or to the informal economy, they decide to set up small businesses. To do that, financial inclusion is critical.”
