Rapid Assessment of the Microfinance Sector in Haiti
- Sector assets grew from 6.61 billion gourdes in 2013 to 40 billion in 2023, and the loan portfolio from 1.55 billion to 5.89 billion.
- Another measured aggregate rose from 0.4 billion gourdes to 1.49 billion over the same decade.
- Close to 15 percent of the savings and credit cooperatives contacted had suffered vandalism by armed groups.
- Conducted in May 2024 at the height of the security crisis, so coverage is bounded by which institutions could be reached and the unreachable ones are part of the finding.
A rapid assessment of Haiti's microfinance sector carried out in May 2024, at the height of the security crisis, by the consultancy ProEco Haiti. It measures a sector that grew substantially and is now operating under attack.
The growth is real: between 2013 and 2023 sector assets rose from 6.61 billion gourdes to 40 billion, the loan portfolio from 1.55 billion to 5.89 billion, and another measured aggregate from 0.4 billion to 1.49 billion. Against that, close to 15 percent of the savings and credit cooperatives contacted had suffered vandalism by armed groups. Those two facts belong in the same record: an institution can hold a larger balance sheet than a decade ago and still be unable to open its branch.
Because it is a rapid assessment conducted during a crisis, its coverage is bounded by which institutions could be reached, and it says so. That is the caveat to carry: the figures describe the institutions that responded, in a sector where the ones that could not respond are the finding.
How to cite
United States Agency for International Development (USAID); Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA), 2024, Rapid Assessment of the Microfinance Sector in Haiti, accessed via HaitiDocs, https://www.haitidocs.org/doc/usaid-2024-evaluation-rapide-secteur-microfinance