$1 Million Investment From Clinton Bush Haiti Fund to Improve Livelihoods for Rural Poor by Investing in Small & Growing Businesses

Funding for Root Capital to finance and train rural enterprises in cocoa, coffee, mango and artisan sectors

WASHINGTON, Nov. 15, 2010 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Clinton Bush Haiti Fund today announced a $1 million combined grant and loan commitment to Root Capital (www.rootcapital.org), a non-profit social enterprise fund.  The Clinton Bush Haiti Fund's commitment will enable Root Capital to leverage an additional $1.6 million in funding from other social investors for loans to promising small and growing businesses in Haiti.  Such small and growing Haitian businesses – such as farmer cooperatives and food processors – are key to increasing rural prosperity and building sustainable livelihoods in poor, environmentally vulnerable places.  Small and growing businesses are central to Haiti's economy and play a pivotal role in building back the nation.  

The Clinton Bush Haiti Fund's commitment builds on generous support from Sweden's The World We Want Foundation. This joint effort will allow Root Capital to provide timely, high-impact loans and financial management training to small businesses that make up as much as 90% of Haiti's private sector.

The January 12 earthquake worsened an already tenuous reality for small and growing businesses in Haiti, destroying means of production and cutting off access to capital for recovery. The effect: thousands of rural Haitians forced into a crisis mode of subsistence living. Now, with access to the capital and viable markets, businesses selected for this competitive program will be empowered to move toward a successful future, investing in equipment, meeting orders, and providing employment.

Root Capital's work in Haiti will help rural Haitians support their families and rebuild their lives, while paving the way for a transition to the formal economy and a long-term future marked by hope and prosperity rather than aid-dependency. A pathfinder in financing the "missing middle" – the underserved gap between microfinance and commercial banking – Root Capital was recognized at the G-20 Summit in South Korea this week as a winner of the G-20 SME Challenge (Small & Medium Enterprise), which selects the best models to catalyze finance for small and medium-sized enterprises.

"From Liberia to Colombia, Root Capital's clients have shown how well-placed capital and capacity building can propel small and growing businesses to become engines of sustainable growth that build rural prosperity – we expect nothing less in Haiti," said William Foote, Founder and CEO of Root Capital. "Investments from Clinton Bush Haiti Fund and The World We Want Foundation will help Root Capital reach businesses that are currently locked out of opportunities due to markets failures such as lack of access to credit, technology and markets."

"Our partnership with Root Capital allows us to rapidly infuse Haiti's rural areas with more than $1M in new credit for grassroots businesses," explains Clinton Bush Haiti Fund's Executive Vice President, Charles Ries. "Plus, by supporting socially and environmentally responsible businesses with quick financing and proven financial management training, these investments then sustainably improve the livelihoods of these rural producers and create new jobs outside of Port-au-Prince."

"Haiti is on the precipice of change; we feel compelled to support the country's long-term economic reconstruction and hope to have an effect on the tipping point," said to Paul Leander-Engstrom, Founder and Chairman of The World We Want Foundation. "Our first-hand experience in Haiti has exposed the dire need for increased grassroots economic activity. The World We Want Foundation is committed to a long-term, engaged approach with Root Capital and other partners that will maximize our contribution to enduring poverty alleviation and meaningful job creation in Haiti."

About Root Capital

Root Capital is pioneering finance for grassroots businesses that build sustainable livelihoods and transform rural communities in poor, environmentally vulnerable places. By working with small and growing businesses, it aims to fill the "missing middle" of finance in developing countries – the underserved gap between microfinance and commercial banking. Root Capital is a founding member of the Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE) and the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN). It receives support from a wide variety of investing and philanthropic sources, including foundations, corporations, socially responsible investment firms, religious institutions, government agencies and individuals. Since its launch in 1999, Root Capital has provided more than $200 million in credit to 282 grassroots businesses, representing 400,000 individuals in 30 countries throughout Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa. Root Capital maintains an impressive 99% repayment rate from its borrowers and a 100% repayment rate to investors. For more information, visit www.rootcapital.org.

About the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund

The Clinton Bush Haiti Fund is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded after Haiti's January 12, 2010 earthquake, when President Barack Obama asked Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush to lead a major fundraising effort to assist the Haitian people to  "build back better." The Clinton Bush Haiti Fund primarily focuses on longer-term, sustainable economic reconstruction designed to create jobs and promote economic opportunity. Its aim is to help create an economy in which all Haitians have the opportunity to prosper and achieve their full potential.

To make a donation to the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund, visit www.ClintonBushHaitiFund.org or text the word "QUAKE" to 20222 to donate $10. A one-time donation of $10 will be added to your mobile phone bill or deducted from your prepaid balance. Message and data rates apply. All charges are billed by and payable to your mobile service provider. Service is available through the following wireless operators: AT&T, Nextel, Sprint, T-Mobile USA, US Cellular, Cricket Communications, Cincinnati Bell, Cellular South and Verizon Wireless. Donations are collected for the benefit of the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund by the Mobile Giving Foundation and subject to the terms found at www.hmgf.org/t. You can unsubscribe at any time by replying STOP to short code 20222. Reply HELP to 20222 for help. 

About The World We Want Foundation

The aim of The World We Want is to encourage and support organizations that are finding innovative solutions to today's most pressing global issues – poverty and environmental degradation. It works with development initiatives that are well defined, limited in scope, and run by skilled and dedicated social entrepreneurs. Its focus is to provide humanitarian support to the most vulnerable – women and children facing severe poverty – and to foster environmental responsibility and revitalization. For more information, visit: http://www.theworldwewant.se.

SOURCE Clinton Bush Haiti Fund