Hitachi is a first major contributor to Kiva’s Global COVID-19 fund, a new program that will allow Kiva to fund the communities that have been hit hardest by this crisis. As repayments from these loans return to Hitachi’s account, they will fund new loans over a 4-year period, after which the balance will be a donation to Kiva.

Kiva is a global nonprofit organization whose mission is to expand financial access to underserved communities and the 1.7 billion people in the world who do not have access to financial services. Kiva facilitates loans to borrowers through their online crowdfunding platform, and to date 1.9 million people have funded over USD 1.44 billion in loans to 3.6 million borrowers in 77 countries. Hitachi has made a new contribution of USD 1 million to Hitachi’s Kiva fund to support small business operators affected by the spread of the COVID-19, in addition to the first contribution of USD 100,000 in 2017.

Specifically, Hitachi Group employees will have an opportunity to choose business owners affected by COVID-19, and make a loan of USD 25 from the Hitachi fund. Hitachi also hopes to engage their community in Kiva’s COVID-19 response through Hitachi‘s social media accounts. Individuals who make a loan on Kiva first, will receive an additional USD 25 credit on behalf of Hitachi, to lend to another borrower. Any remaining funds will be used to match loans made on the Kiva platform. By engaging employees and the community, Hitachi will provide financial support of USD 1 million in total to the small business operators all over the world.

Source: Hitachi

The post Hitachi provides USD 1 Million in loans through Kiva to businesses in need around the globe, affected by the spread of the COVID-19 appeared first on North America FarmQuip Magazine.