Shared Interest is a nonprofit social investment
fund that for the lastdecade has pioneered the use
of guarantees to advance social justice and work
as a catalyst for social and economic change in South
Africa. Shared Interest works through its South African
partner organization to guarantee loans by South
African financial institutions to Microcredit finance
institutions they would otherwise consider "unbankable." Shared
Interest has helped address apartheid's enduring
economic legacy by providing access to credit and
housing -- helping low-income South Africans launch
8,000 small businesses, create 13,000 jobs, and build
63,000 low-cost homes-rebuilding communities and
improving the lives of more than 375,000 people across
South Africa, of whom more than 75 percent are black
women.
"We anticipate that 2005 will be a watershed
year in South Africa for providing financial services
to people who have been denied them since the days
of colonialism and apartheid. The Year of Microcredit
sends a strong signal that low-income communities
and the micro-finance institutions that serve them
are promising markets and powerful tools for reducing
the growing gap between rich and poor in today's
globalizing economy. It also highlights the tremendous
impact of organized communities and effective institutions
utilizing micro-finance as a tool for social and
economic transformation."
--Donna Katzin, Executive Director, Shared Interest