Cooperativa Alianza del Valle

Press release

April 20, 2021

Picture of woman with brown hair and white shirt sitting in front of promotional background

FinDev Canada supports Alianza del Valle to provide liquidity to micro-enterprises, strengthen employment, and promote gender action

Press Release

FinDev Canada granted a loan of USD 7.5 million to Alianza del Valle, a leading financial cooperative...

Summary of Anticipated Development Impacts

MARKET DEVELOPMENT

The key development impact contribution of this transaction is to provide microfinance in Ecuador to foster economic development by supporting local livelihoods and jobs.
Supporting local employment: FinDev Canada’s investment of US$ 7.5 million will enable Alianza del Valle to provide financing to hundreds of microenterprises, half of which will be WMEs, and contribute to promoting sustainable livelihoods.
Innovative solutions to increase financial inclusion: To overcome COVID‑19 restrictions precluding in‑person meetings, Alianza del Valle developed an innovative product, reaching its members through digital credit.

Women's economic empowerment

Support women’s leadership: The Cooperative’s workforce demonstrates notable representation of women across all levels of the organization, including at Board level where women account for 60% of the group.

WOMEN’S ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT

The Alianza del Valle transaction qualifies for the 2X Challenge based on the Leadership criteria (60% of Board of Directors are women) and the Employment criteria (62% of employees are women), as well as its use of proceeds towards WMEs.
In 2019, the Cooperative was recognized for its efforts, achieving 6th place in Latin America for being A Great Place to Work, a distinction that celebrates organizations creating inclusive workplaces.
Offering decent employment for women: As an employer, Alianza del Valle strives to provide its employees with equal opportunities. The Cooperative offers quality local employment with fair compensation, as determined by a benchmarking exercise led by Deloitte. Alianza del Valle also ensures job postings are gender‑neutral.
Addressing barriers faced by women in accessing funding: Given Alianza del Valle’s current microfinance portfolio distribution (35% women, 65% men), the Cooperative will have to make efforts to deploy half (50%) the capital effectively to WMEs and demonstrate intentionality to promote women’s economic empowerment.

CLIMATE ACTION

Sustainable practices within operations: Given the sector of operation, Alianza del Valle has a low environmental footprint. Nonetheless, the Cooperative has plans to develop an Environmental Policy for their internal operations.