South Pacific Business Development
Encyclopedia
South Pacific Business Development is a network of Microfinance institutions working in Fiji
, Samoa
, and Tonga
to eliminate poverty. It's aim is to provide women in poor rural villages with the opportunity to start, grow and maintain sustainable income-generating micro-enterprises, build assets through saving as well as finance home improvements and childhood education. SPBD also provides its clients with a range of training, financial services and ongoing motivation.
and neighboring regions to empower women through financial access and economic development to help lift themselves and their families permanently out of poverty and improve self-esteem.
(Delaware) in United States of America and placed underneath it another holding company named South Pacific Business Development Microfinance Holdings Pte. Limited in Singapore
. The Delaware-based entity serves as the gateway for United States investors to put their money into the SPBD Network, while the Singapore-based company plans to operate as a regional microfinance platform in the Pacific.
The South Pacific Business Development Microfinance Holdings Pte. Limited in Singapore owns SPBD Samoa, SPBD Tonga, and SPBD Fiji and is responsible for launching other greenfield microfinance operations in other Pacific Island countries such as in the Solomon Islands
at the end of 2011.
All of SPBD's microfinance institutions are registered as Non-Bank Financial Institutions (NBFI), with SPBD Samoa recently having made the transformation from a Non Governmental Organization (NGO) status.
SPBD has also appeared on national television in Fiji, Samoa, New Zealand and the USA.
Fiji
Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...
, Samoa
Samoa
Samoa , officially the Independent State of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa is a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It became independent from New Zealand in 1962. The two main islands of Samoa are Upolu and one of the biggest islands in...
, and Tonga
Tonga
Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga , is a state and an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, comprising 176 islands scattered over of ocean in the South Pacific...
to eliminate poverty. It's aim is to provide women in poor rural villages with the opportunity to start, grow and maintain sustainable income-generating micro-enterprises, build assets through saving as well as finance home improvements and childhood education. SPBD also provides its clients with a range of training, financial services and ongoing motivation.
Mission & Vision
SPBD's goal is to become the leading Microfinance institution (MFI) network in the South PacificOceania
Oceania is a region centered on the islands of the tropical Pacific Ocean. Conceptions of what constitutes Oceania range from the coral atolls and volcanic islands of the South Pacific to the entire insular region between Asia and the Americas, including Australasia and the Malay Archipelago...
and neighboring regions to empower women through financial access and economic development to help lift themselves and their families permanently out of poverty and improve self-esteem.
History
South Pacific Business Development began in the small, rural island of Samoa in 2000. This microfinance organization was created by Gregory F. Casagrande to provide economic opportunities to women in poor communities in Samoa in order to improve their lifestyle as well as their families. Several years later, in July 2009 SPBD established a replication of SPBD (Samoa) in the Kingdom of Tonga named SPBD Microfinance (Tonga) Ltd. At the end of 2010, another replication was launched in Fiji, SPBD Microfinance (Fiji) Ltd, meeting the same success as SPBD (Samoa) and SPBD (Tonga).Network
At the end of 2010, South Pacific Business Development created a holding company called South Pacific Business Development Microfinance Holdings Limited Liability CompanyLimited liability company
A limited liability company is a flexible form of enterprise that blends elements of partnership and corporate structures. It is a legal form of company that provides limited liability to its owners in the vast majority of United States jurisdictions...
(Delaware) in United States of America and placed underneath it another holding company named South Pacific Business Development Microfinance Holdings Pte. Limited in Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
. The Delaware-based entity serves as the gateway for United States investors to put their money into the SPBD Network, while the Singapore-based company plans to operate as a regional microfinance platform in the Pacific.
The South Pacific Business Development Microfinance Holdings Pte. Limited in Singapore owns SPBD Samoa, SPBD Tonga, and SPBD Fiji and is responsible for launching other greenfield microfinance operations in other Pacific Island countries such as in the Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands is a sovereign state in Oceania, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands. It covers a land mass of . The capital, Honiara, is located on the island of Guadalcanal...
at the end of 2011.
All of SPBD's microfinance institutions are registered as Non-Bank Financial Institutions (NBFI), with SPBD Samoa recently having made the transformation from a Non Governmental Organization (NGO) status.
Publicity
SPBD has been spotlighted in the Samoa Observer.SPBD has also appeared on national television in Fiji, Samoa, New Zealand and the USA.
Statistics
Since distributing its first micro-enterprise loan in January 2000, SPBD has provided over 31,000 loans (approx. US$15,000,000) to create opportunities for about 14,000 Samoan families in 415 villages build small businesses.External links
- South Pacific Business Development Website
- Rainer Arnhold Fellows: Gregory F. Casagrande http://www.rainerfellows.org/node/16