Cablegate: Women's World Banking Cali Opic Application

This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

id: 14026
date: 2/17/2004 21:52
refid: 04BOGOTA1657
origin: Embassy Bogota
classification: UNCLASSIFIED
destination: 04SECSTATE30469
header:
This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

----------------- header ends ----------------

UNCLAS BOGOTA 001657

SIPDIS

DEPT PLEASE PASS TO OPIC,LOREN RODWIN, SENIOR INVESTMENT
OFFICER, STRUCTURED FINANCE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EINV CO
SUBJECT: WOMEN'S WORLD BANKING CALI OPIC APPLICATION

REF: SECSTATE 30469

1. Per reftel, Econoffs reviewed Women,s World Banking Cali
(WWB) and have found it to be a reputable organization. WWB
was established in 1982 and is known in Latin America as a
financially sound microcredit agency. It won the
Inter-American Development Bank,s Award for Excellence in
Microfinance in 1999. WWB has aimed at becoming more
efficient. Compared to other microcredit agencies in Latin
America, WWB offers a low cost program with a small staff.
Their program is aimed at helping individual women in the
poorest levels of society.

2. WWB has already benefited from international assistance.
Recent loans by USAID, Deutsche Bank and the Interamerican
Development Bank have helped to raise the number of clients
to over 49,000 and the loan portfolio to USD 22,231,000. WWB
has 12 branches around Colombia with approximately 185 staff
members. In 2001, 2.2 percent of WWBs average portfolio had
to be written off. WWB,s operating expense to average loan
ratio was 11.6 percent in 2002, down from 13.6 percent the
previous year. To increase confidence in their program, WWB
offers access to their externally audited financial
statements.

3. WWB requires no collateral, and loans start at USD 160
with an average term of 14 months. Borrowers are charged a
2.4 percent monthly interest rate and a fee for their credit
evaluation. Borrowers use loans for commerce (59 percent),
manufacturing (27 percent) and service delivery (14 percent)
with most loans under USD 450. To add flexibility, WWB
offers various financing options dependent upon borrowers,
credit histories.
WOOD

=======================CABLE ENDS============================

© Scoop Media