BBVA Microfinance Foundation’s Dominican institution offers financial products and services to support the social and economic development of people living under vulnerable conditions
More than 47,000 clients joined Banco Adopem in 2018, BBVA Microfinance Foundation’s institution. It currently serves more than 390,000 entrepreneurs in the Dominican Republic living under vulnerable conditions. According to the Foundation’s Social Performance Report, 38% of the clients abandon poverty after two years of working with Adopem.
Out of the new clients, 62% are women, 42% live in rural areas, 58% have primary education at best and 47% are at least 30 years old. These data reflect Banco Adopem’s commitment to low-income persons, to make opportunities available to them and to accompany them through time.
According to BBVA Microfinance Foundation’s “2018 Social Performance Report: Measuring what really matters”, Banco Adopem pays special attention to women, catalysts for development. The institution also supports progress in rural areas with specific programs, given that poverty is usually concentrated in those regions.
Mercedes Canalda de Beras-Goico, Banco Adopem’s president, said during the presentation that the main objective is for people living under vulnerable conditions to achieve economic and social development with productive activities.
It also highlights women’s empowerment, as a way to meet its shared goal with BBVA Microfinance Foundation, which serves more than 2.1 million people in Latin America. 60% of them are women, whose net incomes grow at an average rate of 19%, compared to an 11.5% growth for that of men’s. Female entrepreneurs’ assets grow at 25%, and that of men’s, grow at 21%.
Out of the 1.2 million women who are clients of the Foundation in the region, 53% work in retail. Furthermore, it is interesting to take note of the fact that according to the 2018 Social Performance Report, in the Dominican Republic, 44% of the people don’t have a bank account and the larger proportion of them are women who are excluded from the financial system.