VISION FUND DR

Loans for the most disadvantaged

Dominican Republic

Vision Fund Dominican Republic (Vision Fund) is a microfinance organization offering loans and capacity building to small and micro entrepreneurs in the south of the Dominican Republic and in Santo Domingo.

Vision Fund Dominican Republic was launched in early 1994 under the name FIME (Fondo de Inversión para Microcrédito) as a microfinance programme of World Vision Dominican Republic. It applies the village banking model, in which informal self-help support groups of 20-30 members take out loans together.

Most of Vision Fund’s clients live in rural areas. Agriculture, commerce and manufacturing are their main activities. Vision Fund applies strict criteria when it comes to the kinds of activities its clients can engage in: none of these activities should harm the environment, involve the sale of alcohol or risk the safety or wellbeing of children. Vision Fund’s biggest presence is in the south of the island, where poverty is at its worst.

Vision Fund Dominican Republic has been an Oikocredit partner since 2011.