DAVIS, Calif.- MicroCredit, a not-for-profit venture that makes guarantor-backed loans to aid third-world poor, today announced its loan of $500,000 to CREDIT, the Cambodian Rural Economic Development Initiatives for Transformation. The three-year loan will enable CREDIT to continue to support existing micro-businesses and allow them to finance new ventures for rural entrepreneurs.

MicroCredit Enterprises' innovative model leverages private capital to make tiny business loans (average amount: $100.00) to poor people, mostly women, in developing countries. "We've created this financial model to support microfinance programs, which are a proven international poverty reduction strategy, without depending on donations, foundation grants or below-market investments," said Jonathan C. Lewis, MicroCredit Enterprises' CEO. "This is about food security - and helping incredibly poor women achieve that for themselves and their children," added Lewis. Women use these small loans to start businesses in their home - such as weaving, soap-making or baking bread - and through their businesses, they are able to feed and clothe their families.

MicroCredit Enterprises has already guaranteed funds for more than $1.7 million in microloans and has helped an estimated 17,000 poor women. Most of the loan recipients have no credit history, no collateral and no formal education, yet repayment of these loans is often higher than 99 percent.

This MicroCredit Enterprises loan will allow CREDIT to continue supporting Cambodian women like Suen Yait. Before joining CREDIT, Yait had a small stall selling a few groceries to passers by. After her first loan of $50, she was able to buy more goods. Today, her loan size is $150, her net income is $3.75 per day and she has been able to expand her shop to include a fantastic array of goods from detergent, petrol, sugar and rice, to fresh water, coconuts, fresh fruit and office supplies. Yait has used the profits to build a new house and wants to continue expanding the business to enable her child to complete school. With these new microloans others, like Suen Yait, will be able to create and build home-based businesses generating personal income that will allow them to take care of themselves and their families.

The MicroCredit Enterprises model is very appealing to socially responsible individuals and businesses. It allows stakeholders to make a significant difference in the world at a grass-roots level - securing thousands of loans to women who simply want to put food on the table or clothe their children - while still maintaining complete control of their collateral assets and realizing a market-driven return on investment. MicroCredit Enterprises is actively seeking and linking new guarantors to back the company's microfinance program. Each new guarantor supports up to 5,000 new female-owned small businesses overseas. The goal is to secure a total of 20 guarantors and $10 million in loans by the end of 2006.

About MicroCredit Enterprises

Based in Davis, California, MicroCredit Enterprises is an innovative, not-for-profit, anti-poverty business venture which leverages private capital to make tiny business loans to impoverished people, mostly women, in developing countries. Without raising a dime of traditional charitable donations, MicroCredit Enterprises uses the collateral assets of individuals and institutions to borrow debt capital in the United States that is channeled through overseas, locally-run, non-governmental microfinance organizations. The impoverished loan recipients generally have no credit history, no collateral and no formal education, but with microloans, they create and build home-based businesses. MicroCredit Enterprises' economic development objective is to reverse the cycle of poverty in economically distressed countries using the tools of the marketplace to provide self-help opportunities to millions of impoverished women and their families. On the Net: http://www.mcenterprises.org.

About CREDIT

CREDIT serves over 11,000 clients, primarily women in the rural Cambodia. CREDIT was established in 2000 by World Relief with one branch. In 2003, CREDIT became a limited liability company and in 2004 it received a 3 year license from the National Bank of Cambodia to operate as a licensed microfinance institution. Today, CREDIT operates 5 branches with 12 office outlets. 95% of CREDIT's clients are women and 90% live outside of the country's capitol in rural areas. The average outstanding loan balance per borrower is $263. Additionally, CREDIT promotes HIV/AIDS awareness and education to its clients. Visit: http://www.credit.com.kh

Microcredit Enterprises

Microcredit Enterprises

Established in 2005, MicroCredit Enterprises is a pioneering private sector, anti-poverty program that leverages the private capital of high net worth individuals to provide small business loans to impoverished entrepreneurs in developing countries who live on $1 per day or less. MicroCredit Enterprises gears its entrepreneurial results to produce jobs, sustain micro-businesses and improve human lives. MicroCredit Enterprises is backed by a growing network of Guarantors with a current total of $37 million in pledged assets. To date, MicroCredit Enterprises has funded 95,000 micro-entrepreneurs across 15 countries on four continents.

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