Ambassador Question Time – Is Shared Interest a micro-finance organisation?

Posted by Ashleigh

November 13, 2009

Is Shared Interest a micro-finance organisation?

Microfinance, or microcredit, is the lending of very small amounts of money for short periods of time, especially to a start-up company or self-employed person.

The loans and credit that Shared Interest provides does not qualify as microfinance or microcredit, however some of the amounts we lend are small and short term. Shared Interest also does not offer funding for start up capital as the customers we work with are already established Fair trade businesses.

However, the Shared Interest Foundation supports businesses that are just starting out in the fair trade world, or which are in the process of achieving fair trade status with training in business skills and capacity building.