by Emily Allred, NICA Loan Fund Director
and Francisco Barquero, WCCN Loan Fund Representative in Nicaragua
The Center for Promotion of Local Development and Poverty Eradication (CEPRODEL) became the newest partner agency of the NICA Fund when it received a $200,000 loan on July 16, 2007. WCCN is pleased to support this unique NGO, whose approach to development includes a multitude of services in addition to microcredit.
Founded in 1990, CEPRODEL has grown steadily to become a moderately- sized organization with branches in 15 municipalities across the northern and northwesternern regions of Nicaragua, down along the Pacific Coast and into Managua and the surrounding area. CEPRODEL is serving approximately 13,000 clients with loans for commerce, livestock, agriculture and housing in many poor and underserved locations such as Telica, El Sauce and Nagarote in the west and Villanueva, Somotillo and Cinco Pinos in the North. Despite a large portion of CEPRODEL’s portfolio dedicated to the traditionally male-oriented activities of agriculture and livestock production, 60% of CEPRODEL clients are women, the majority of whom are borrowing to finance their microenterprise.
CEPRODEL is a mixture of a microfinance organization and a development- oriented NGO, combining remittance services and lending operations with training and cooperative development. CEPRODEL is following a unique model of supporting housing cooperatives, and is the only ASOMIF member that belongs to the Nicaraguan housing network, an umbrella organization comprised of NGOs committed to developing housing for organized communities in poverty. In addition to providing credit to cooperatives, their training center, called the “Monsignor Oscar Arnulfo Romero Spirituality Center,” provides training on administering housing, credit, and agricultural cooperatives. CEPRODEL has become a self-sufficient and financially stable organization that no longer requires donations to sustain and grow their operations. CEPRODEL is managed by its founders, which makes for a particularly dedicated team of experienced professionals. They balance CEPRODEL’s microfinance operations and social programs with efficiency. CEPRODEL’s borrowers, however, are the foundation of CEPRODEL’s success. Repayment rates have typically been 97% to 99%.
The addition of CEPRODEL to the NICA Fund portfolio diversifies not only the risk of the NICA Fund, but it also diversifies the outreach and social impact of the Fund. Through the loan to CEPRODEL, the NICA Fund is able to support more lending to housing improvement and development and reach residents in municipalities where no branches of NICA Fund partners had yet existed.
