Citi provides $1M grant to Haiti microfinance institutions

Microfinance Monitor, May 15, 2010: Citi has announced it will provide $1 million in charity to three local microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Haiti. The funds will be granted to Fonkoze, FINCA Haiti and SOGESOL.

“Citi’s support to strengthen our microfinance infrastructure, thereby jumpstarting local business and creating jobs, will be a welcome boost to the economy.”
The grants will help alleviate the MFIs’ client losses while allowing the organizations to extend their outreach to local micro entrepreneurs and small business owners most affected by the earthquake.

Today’s announcement is part of the pledge Citi made to provide $2 million in charitable contributions to the relief and reconstruction efforts in Haiti.

Citi, in association with the Pan American Development Foundation (PADF), has also approved a shipment of relief supplies and launched a fundraising campaign to encourage donations from employees and clients across the world.

“Our commitment to the people of Haiti is stronger than ever. We have operated locally in the country since 1971, connecting individuals and organizations to products and services to meet their business and financial goals,” said Citi CEO Vikram Pandit.

Citi Foundation has granted about $300,000 to local microfinance and microenterprise programs over the past 10 years. In March, Citi’s Banamex joined the Inter-American Development Bank, OPIC and other partners to launch the Microfinance Growth Fund, a new lending facility that will provide up to $250 million in funding to microfinance intuitions in Latin America and the Caribbean.