Going down to Suva to do payments, fill in forms and applications will be a thing of the past for members of the South Pacific Business Development Microfinance Pte (Fiji) Ltd after it opened its 10th branch in Nausori Town.
SPBD Director and General Manager Elrico Munoz says the new Nausori Branch will serve primarily the Tailevu Province, providing essential financial services and business development opportunities to women in the area.
He says SPBD already has a thriving presence in the province - currently boasting a loan portfolio of $1.5 million and serving 962 women micro-entrepreneurs organized in 56 village-based groups meeting weekly.
Munoz says this new branch builds on this robust foundation, ensuring even greater access to financial resources and support for women entrepreneurs.
He adds by the end of this year, in just six months, they aim to empower additional 500 women to start or expand their businesses and also disburse an additional $2.2 million in unsecured loans to new and existing SPBD members.
The General Manager says SPBD’s mission is to improve the quality of life of underprivileged families by providing them with meaningful economic opportunities to help lift them permanently out of poverty.
Munoz says they are especially focused on empowering women to start, grow, and maintain micro businesses through access to financial and business development services and this will enables them to build assets, improve financial security, and finance housing improvements and education. He says their key services to empower women include organizing them into village-based groups, providing continuous financial education, and offering easy access to unsecured loans, savings facilities, death benefits, and business development services.
He adds since their establishment in Fiji in December 2010, SPBD has reached over 20,000 women and provided them with more than $100 million in unsecured loans over the past 13 years.
He further adds that currently, they serve more than 7,000 women in 438 villages through their branches in Suva, Sigatoka, Lautoka, Rakiraki, Levuka, Nabouwalu, Savusavu, and Taveuni.
SPBD Network Founder and President Greg Casagrande acknowledges the hard work of their staff in Fiji that enabled them to open another of their branch.
