Manulife, Kiva partner for small businesses

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines is expected to benefit from a $1-million (P57 million) financing boost for microentrepreneurs from insurance firm Manulife Financial Corp.

Manulife and non-profit microfinance company Kiva recently partnered to drive inclusive economic opportunities in key emerging markets in Asia.

Specifically, Manulife will provide Kiva the resources to boost funding for microentrepreneurs and underserved communities in the Philippines, Cambodia, Indonesia, and Vietnam over the next three years.

The fund will allow Kiva to increase the number of entrepreneurs, particularly small business owners, being provided with microfinancing loans in the said countries.

As such, Kiva will scale up lending partners in select Southeast Asian countries and provide financing for them to increase capacity for funding loans to aspiring microentrepreneurs.

As part of the agreement, the Manulife Match Fund will be leveraged to provide capital to microentrepreneurs on Kiva’s crowd-funding platform for a simpler way of fund distribution.

Once the loans are repaid, resources will be put back to the fund to be distributed to new microentrepreneurs.

Manulife global chief sustainability officer Sarah Chapman said the partnership with Kiva will help entrepreneurs unlock the financial resources they need to build enterprises and transform communities.

“This underscores the power of blended finance in helping us reach underserved individuals and communities in key emerging markets in Asia,” Chapman said.

Kiva was founded in 2005 as a crowdfunding pioneer, connecting individual lenders with entrepreneurs and communities worldwide. Over two million people have invested $2 billion benefitting about 4.7 million borrowers.

In the Philippines, some beneficiaries include those involved in the agriculture sector.