Why does WCCN have a credit project in Latin America?
Despite significant economic and social progress during the last twenty years, Latin America’s society remains deeply divided by class, social status and race. The Latin American region is one of the most unequal regions in the world. A great majority of its indigenous and afro-descendent population lives in poverty or extreme poverty. Latin America continues to face economic problems of extreme proportion with unemployment or underemployment affecting more than half of the region’s economically active population. According to the Inter-American Development Bank, around 80% of the population in Latin America do not have access to financial services. As a result, it is fair to say that historically private banks in Latin America have not been interested in providing financial services to low-income borrowers. State-owned banks have also come and gone without making a lasting impact. For this reason, private nonprofit efforts such as the Capital for Communities Fund are critical in order
