Market Survey of Microfinance for Grameen Replication in the Dominican Republic

This document summarizes a research study of Grameen Foundation USA, which undertook a market survey to:

• Gain an understanding of the microfinance arena in the Dominican Republic;
• Discover the location and concentration of poverty in the country;
• Find a list of potential partner organizations for the implementation of Grameen replication project.

The document derives various conclusions in respect of the poverty spread, microfinance sector and NGOs delivering microfinance:

• Poverty in the Dominican Republic is far reaching, quite varied and not easily generalized;
• Rural poverty is most severe - more than 60% of the critically poor live in these areas;
• Microfinance in the Dominican Republic is fairly developed and on the rise, in terms of lending to established microbusiness, but quite limited for poverty lending;
• There are variety of existing microfinance sources;
• NGOs delivering microfinance services in the Dominican Republic are community development organizations with a credit program, and NGOs specialized in providing microfinance.

The document finally concludes with the findings of the survey:

• Need for microfinance is great throughout the Dominican Republic - it is widespread and largely unmet;
• Few institutions are concentrating on the poorest of the poor;
  The prospect of a well-financed, geographically broad program initiated through a 'fast track' approach presents exciting opportunities for making real impacts on the circumstances of poor Dominican families;
• Challenges for Grameen are:
  • Finding capable partners who have the administrative capacity and institutional openness necessary to handle such an ambitious project;
  • Familiarizing itself with the specific culture, attitudes and circumstances of the Dominican Republic.