Programs: Root Capital

Facts

Root Capital logo

Announced:
November 12, 2010

Category:
Promoting Job Growth & Economic Opportunity

Grant Amount: $1,000,000

Disbursed to Date: $1,000,000

Grant Objective:
Grant and PRI to provide financing for promising Haitian small and medium-sized enterprises.

  • One of Root Capital's grant recipients is a cooperative working to streamline Haitian coffee production.

  • Businesswomen, who are recipients of Root Capital's services, working to complete wares to sell.

  • Artisan products on display for sale.

"Haiti is on the precipice of change; we feel compelled to support the country’s long-term economic reconstruction and hope to have an effect on the tipping point," said Paul Leander-Engstrom, Founder and Chairman of The World We Want Foundation, a partner of Root Capital. "Our first-hand experience in Haiti has exposed the dire need for increased grassroots economic activity…[We are] committed to a long-term, engaged approach with Root Capital and other partners that will maximize our contribution to enduring poverty alleviation and meaning."

Program Update

The Coopération des Coopératives des Planteurs de Café de l’Arrondissement de Belle Anse (COOPCAB) received the first Haitian Root Capital loan of $150,000. The loan went towards supporting a cooperative of 4,000 Haitian coffee growers, and helped to jumpstart what was once a thriving coffee-export business.

According to Mr. Nelson, manager of COOPCAB, in a Wall Street Journal article:

I knew the coffee from Coopcab was one of the finest in the world but now I have the validation of that because I see the reaction of everyone," said Mr. Nelson speaking in French, through a translator.

And people are beginning to pay attention. La Colombe Torrefaction, a coffee roaster with cafes in New York and Philadelphia, is helping COOPCAB expand:

La Colombe is in the process of helping Coopcab get certification from the Rainforest Alliance, and it is helping the cooperative reach out to coffee brokers and wholesalers to encourage further trade.

COOPCAB has thus far been successful in setting up export deals around the world, and thousands of Haitians are now employed in this effort.

Click here to purchase Haitian coffee through La Colombe.

Program Overview

The Clinton Bush Haiti Fund grant to Root Capital was awarded to provide loans for promising Haitian small and growing businesses, largely in rural agricultural areas. Using purchase orders as collateral, Root Capital links businesses to the financing, management skills training, and markets they need to build thriving businesses.

Root Capital seeks to distribute approximately $5.3 million to Haitian small and growing businesses over the next 24 to 30 months. It will administer these loans through the Haiti Housing Finance Facility (HFF). Already, Root Capital provided $15,000 to BrandAid, which is also supported by the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund, to finance the recent artisanal handicraft sale to Macy's.

Why We Invested in Root Capital

Clinton Bush Haiti Fund's grant and PRI loan to Root Capital reflects our focus on long-term reconstruction and the creation of economic opportunity — especially in support of small and growing businesses.

Transforming Lives and Livelihoods

With support from the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund, Root Capital will serve as project administrator for the Haiti Housing Finance Facility, which will:

  • Leverage an additional $1.6 million in funding from other social investors for loans to promising small and growing businesses in Haiti.
  • Increase rural prosperity and build sustainable livelihoods in poor, environmentally vulnerable places by supporting small and growing businesses.
  • Empower small and growing businesses to move toward a successful future, investing in equipment, meeting orders, and providing employment.
  • Pave the way for the transition of Haitian businesses to the formal economy and for a long-term future marked by hope and prosperity rather than aid-dependency.

About Root Capital

Founded in 2000, Root Capital is a non-profit social investment fund. It has disbursed 895 loans totaling $256 million to 320 small and growing businesses in Latin America and Africa.While Root Capital is heavily focused on sustainable agriculture, its portfolio also includes handicrafts, eco-tourism, and fisheries. Root Capital has a cumulative and superb-repayment rate of 99.7 percent from its borrowers, and a 100 percent repayment rate to its investors. The record has earned Root Capital not only the recommendation of highly-regarded firms and institutions, including Dalberg Global Development Advisors and the Inter-American Development Bank, but also financial support, including grants and program related investments, from both the Bill and Melinda Gates and Rockefeller Foundations.