Microfinancing Among the Urban Poor Micro-Entrepreneurial Women

Starting in October 2001, KPS developed a microfinancing program to create livelihood opportunities particularly, for urban poor micro-entrepreneurial women. “Angat-Buhay” Microfinancing Program took off from the 5-year old Savings and Loan Program which used savings and loan technology applied by the women of Payatas in Quezon City. Like its forerunner, Angat-Buhay focused on giving micro-loans to entrepreneurial peoples organization (PO) women members and encouraged them to save a portion of their income as “equity”. The microfinancing program was later spinned-off as KPS-SEED (Small Enterprise and Economic Development) Microfinance Inc., a sister Microfinancing NGO (non-government organization) of KPS Foundation. The young microfinance institution (MFI) has remained an ally and valuable partner of KPS Foundation in addressing livelihood security in various communities in General Santos City and other areas of SOCCSKSARGEN or the new Region 12, Davao Region, or Region 11, and Cebu Province in the Visayas. As of this year (2021), KPS is serving the needs of more or less, 15,000 (fifteen thousand) borrowers-savers and micro-insurers, most of whom are entrepreneurial women.