Passport Series: Cambodia Microfinance Industry

This is the second installment of this month's Passport Series of Cambodia; check out the Cambodia Country Profile. Kiva has a rich history of providing loans in Cambodia - and thus many, many posts from our Kiva Fellows about the country and their experiences there, check them out here.

Photo Credit: Shirley Fong, KF12

Cambodia is a country of over 14 million people with an average per capita GDP of $2000 and 31% living below the poverty line. It is home to one of the most vibrant microfinance industries in the world. The industry in Cambodia has seen very high demand for loans; the country is currently home to over 20 MFIs. There has been a recent growth in the industry, as seen in the following figure from mixmarket.org:



Microfinance Institutions really emerged in Cambodia in the early 1990's, when the country came out of a long series of conflicts. By the end of the 1990s, the industry was serving over 200,000 people. Since then, there has been significant growth! There are currently about 1.1 million borrowers in Cambodia with an average loan size of 556.20 USD, and a country-wide reported gross loan portfolio of 828.7 million USD.

Kiva has four Field Partners in Cambodia. They include: Angkor Microfinance Kampuchea, Hattha Kaksekar Limited, CREDIT, and Maxima Mikroheranhvatho Co. Ltd.

A Kiva borrower's Meatball Shop
Photo Credit: Stephanie Sibal, KF 14

Cambodia is home to many different types of microfinance borrower that are vastly different from each other. Here is a post from a Kiva Fellow about the lives and economies in which urban borrowers exist, and another Kiva Fellow post (in beautiful photos) about the trip to visit a rural borrower.

A Kiva Borrowing Family
Photo Credit: Edwin Au-Yeung, KF 12