Microfinance in Rural Haiti: A Case Study of Institutional Start-up & Microenterprise Development

HAPI-Kredi, a small not-for-profit microfinance institution (MFI), entered into the Haitian marketplace shortly after the devastating 2010 earthquake. HAPI-Kredi, with a mission to serve female entrepreneurs at the economic margins, emerged as a complementary financial service to HAPI, a young NGO with strong ties to the impoverished rural area of La Vallée, Haiti. This article highlights the challenges and opportunities of providing and growing microcredit in rural Haiti through a start-up MFI with two employees and a loan portfolio approaching $10,000 derived primarily from church-centered charitable donations. Extensive interviews with 30 clients of HAPI-Kredi conducted in May 2013 and in June 2014 provide business context for the demand and potential impact of microcredit in the region. This article, through the lens of a case study, details the experience of one MFI in La Vallée, Haiti situated in the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.