Last year the KOLPING savings and credit cooperative in Manabí supported 143 families by lending them microcredits.
One of the beneficiaries is Marlene Muñoz from the Kolping Family “Sedero de Vida” in Rocafuerte. Thanks to the loan, the mother of three was able to enlarge her small kiosk to offer more goods. The pandemic made it hard for the cooperative to recruit new members – on the one hand its staff was not able to travel and promote its services, on the other hand, COVID-19 has an adverse effect on membership growth because more people are unemployed.
Yet, there is also some good news: The credit cooperative has received an excellent evaluation from the government’s supervisory authority which may soon make it eligible for government funding.
