Oikocredit (in full Oikocredit, Ecumenical Development Cooperative Society U.A.) is a cooperative society that offers loans or investment capital for

microfinance Microfinance is a category of financial services targeting individuals and small businesses who lack access to conventional banking and related services. Microfinance includes microcredit, the provision of small loans to poor clients; savings ...

institutions,

cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-contro ...

s and

small and medium-sized enterprises Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) or small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are businesses whose personnel and revenue numbers fall below certain limits. The abbreviation "SME" is used by international organizations such as the World Bank ...

in developing countries. It is one of the world's largest private financiers of the microfinance sector. The idea for Oikocredit came from a 1968 meeting of the

World Council of Churches The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a worldwide Christian inter-church organization founded in 1948 to work for the cause of ecumenism. Its full members today include the Assyrian Church of the East, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, most ju ...

. Following this, Oikocredit was established in 1975 in the Netherlands. As a co-operative, Oikocredit finances and invests in

fair trade Fair trade is an arrangement designed to help producers in developing countries achieve sustainable and equitable trade relationships. The fair trade movement combines the payment of higher prices to exporters with improved social and envir ...

organisations, co-operatives, microfinance institutions, and small to medium-sized enterprises in many developing countries. In 2016 Oikocredit had offices in 31 countries. On 25 March 2010, Oikocredit announced that it had reached €1 billion in cumulative committed loans and investments since the organisation began its operations. In 2009, a year when financial institutions encountered difficult market conditions, Oikocredit achieved record high inflows: Oikocredit's capital inflow reached €62.9 million and its total assets grew by 13% to €537 million at the year end. Oikocredit’s financial resources primarily derive from investments (£150 minimum, no maximum) contributed by 54,000 individuals, institutions and faith-based organisations worldwide. In return, investors have received stable gross dividends paid (or re-invested) annually since 2000 with no fixed notice period, together with annual social performance reports that monitor the impact of Oikocredit and their partner organisations in developing countries. As of 2014, Oikocredit channeled €40.3m (£31.7m) of its investment capital into 85 fair trade partner organisations, many in coffee and cocoa enterprises in Latin America and Africa. In the same year Oikocredit launched an agriculture unit led from Lima, Peru. The cooperative also diversified into renewable energy, recruiting a renewable energy financing expert, to source deals in low-income countries. On 16 November 2016,

Alternative Bank Schweiz Alternative Bank Switzerland (ABS) is a sustainability-oriented bank based in Olten, Canton of Solothurn, in Switzerland. It is situated at the former location of the Walter Verlag. Microfinancing In March 2009, eleven ethical banks formed a ...

(ABS) launched a banking partnership with Oikocredit.

Etymology

"Oiko" is derived from the Greek word ''oikos'', which means "the house, the place where the people live together".

References

External links

* {{Authority control Microfinance organizations Christian ecumenical organizations