Investing in people

People, planet and profit

Oikocredit does three simple things. We help people create their own path out of poverty. We do so in a way that leaves a positive impact on the planet. And we deliver a modest financial return back to investors like you. We call it a ‘triple bottom line’.

It means you can feel good about where your money goes; knowing it is having a positive social, environmental and financial impact on the world.

Financial inclusion

There are 1.7 billion people who lack access to basic financial services. Without credit or savings many people can’t get financial and other support to start businesses or improve their standards of living.

When traditional banks are unwilling or unable to help, poverty, aid-dependency or local loan sharks often move in to fill the gap. The first step out of poverty for millions of people around the world is to receive affordable, fair and accessible financial services.

Through about 800 partners in 70 countries we reach out to some of the most disadvantaged and financially-excluded people in the world. We particularly focus on helping people in remote, rural areas and women to create income-generating opportunities.

Sustainable agricuture

Another major prioity of Oikocredit is to provide financing to farmer co-operatives, fair trade organizations and agri-processing companies working with smallholder farmers. This helps to boost rural incomes, increase food security and strengthen communities hit by global competition and environmental changes brought about by climate change.

Renewable energy

Finally, we are ramping up our investments in renewable energy, helping to provide reliable and affordable energy to communities in the developing world that lack access to electricity. This helps to provide one of the most important tools for development -- energy -- in a way that doesn't add tons of additional carbon to the atmosphere.  

Providing a return to our investors

At the same time as helping millions of people to create their own paths out of poverty through our partnerships, we have delivered a modest return to our investors.

We do this by carefully managing the assets we hold on behalf of tens of thousands of organizational and individual investors around the world. And we manage our risks by diversifying our investments across a portfolio of hundreds of partner organizations in dozens of countries.

As you can see, we measure our profit not just in financial terms, but also in terms of the impact we have. Our social and environmental performance are just as important as our financial performance.