Caja de Crédito de Soyapango, Sociedad Cooperativa de Capital Variable de RL

Promoting micro-entrepreneurship in Soyapango

El Salvador

Caja de Crédito de Soyapango, is a cooperative society, founded in 1979, which runs a loan programme for micro-enterprises and SMEs. It operates in the city of Soyapango, El Salvador's most densely populated city, where it has four branches. In addition, it also supports infrastructure improvement projects.

Many people in Soyapango are unemployed and seek ways to generate incomes to support their families. A microloan can help them become micro- or small entrepreneurs.

Oikocredit chose to support Caja de Crédito de Soyapango as it fits in with Oikocredit's favoured organisational model, the cooperative, which means all clients are shareholders who can participate in the general assembly and make a contribution to its policies and ambitions.

More than half of Oikocredit's loan will be used to provide 750 new loans to small entrepreneurs such as market traders and small retailers. The remaining part will be used to offer housing loans. It is expected that two thirds of the new loans will be provided to women.