The Orbayu Foundation, the board of which includes representatives from Aviva, the leading supplier of life and pensions products in Europe, ESIC and the missionaries of the congregation of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (SHJ), aims to encourage economic and social development in some of the poorest areas of South America through granting microloans.
- A joint initiative of Aviva, ESIC and the missionaries of the congregation of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
- The three institutions are sharing their know-how and experience to look for, manage and offer microloans to those who are excluded from traditional financial circuits
The Orbayu Foundation, the board of which includes representatives from Aviva, the leading supplier of life and pensions products in Europe, ESIC and the missionaries of the congregation of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (SHJ), aims to encourage economic and social development in some of the poorest areas of South America through granting microloans.
In the words of Ignacio Izquierdo, managing director of Aviva in Spain: “This project requires the commitment and involvement of everyone. We therefore highly value our collaboration with trusted institutions such as ESIC and SHJ."
Experience has proven that donation is key, but we also need talent and knowledge to implement the initiatives created for the economic and social improvement of the underprivileged.
For Simón Reyes Martínez Córdova, director general of ESIC: “With the creation of this foundation, we are trying, on the one hand, to make school pupils aware of the reality of the third world and, on the other hand, we are trying to promote business studies at universities, by encouraging students to set up companies which contribute to the development of Ecuadorian society and the dissemination of a culture of respect for moral values and rationality in business.”
What is a microloan?
Microloans are small loans granted to poor borrowers who are unable to access the loans awarded by traditional banks.
Microloans mean that many people who have no resources, especially those in developing countries, are able to finance independent work projects which will bring in some money for them.
It is a small loan:
- Without any financial guarantees.
- With much more favourable interest rates than those offered by local lenders.
- With short-term agreed repayment instalments.
- Linked to a viable business project.
The average delinquency rate of a traditional bank is 3.2%; the rate for microloans is under 2%.
There are two phases to the process which Orbayu uses to grant microloans:
- The congregation of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (SHJ) identifies beneficiaries, while ESIC and Aviva contribute to the collection of funds.
- SHJ hands over the loan, monitors the business and controls the repayment of the instalments.
PayPal is used to carry out the process, as this is deemed to be the best payment gateway option due to its level of security, ease of use and management.
How did this initiative come about?
- At the moment there are over 1350 million people living in extreme poverty with less than 1 dollar a day.
- 1050 million suffer from hunger, 805 million of whom live in the third world.
- 1000 million people in the world are illiterate.
- Women account for 70% of agricultural workers and produce 90% of primary foodstuffs but only own 2% of the land.
Without raising awareness of this, our young people cannot appreciate how much they are worth or the vital circumstances and the possibilities of personal and social development which the developed world, into which they have been born, can offer them.
For mountain climber Jesús Calleja, an Orbayu collaborator: “When you travel to developing countries, you see the real difficulties which these people are facing, but you also realise the enormous potential for overcoming this situation if they are provided with adequate help such as microloans."
To see the suffering of a large proportion of mankind first hand, as well as the day-to-day difficulties which they face, should be part of everyone’s fundamental education.
ESIC and Aviva have therefore set up the Orbayu Foundation, in collaboration with the missionaries of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (SHJ).
These three institutions, which traditionally operate alone, have come together to look for, manage and offer microloans to those who are excluded from traditional financial circuits.
Orbayu offers the possibility to those interested (Aviva employees, ESIC pupils, the general public) to go online and learn about the small business projects which are looking for financing, and to help by investing in those which seem most attractive. They can also check the financing status of their chosen project at any time, its return and the income from the project.
For Izquierdo: “this is one of the aspects which Aviva employees value most; to know that our help has measurable results and direct and constant benefits for the people who need help most.”
Location of the Orbayu Foundation projects
Quito (Ecuador)
The Orbayu Foundation is located to the south of the capital of Ecuador, in an area populated by very modest people from rural areas. The work of the members of the SHJ consists of pastoral care and social welfare work. They have only been there a short while but they are committed to helping relieve the poor conditions.
Bahía de Caraquez (Ecuador)
The Foundation also has a base in Bahía de Caráquez on the Pacific coast, in a very poor area which has recently been hit by natural disasters such as hurricanes (el “Niño”) and earthquakes. The members of SHJ work there in pastoral and social roles, in healthcare, childcare and in the reconstruction of different areas, etc.
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For more information:
Juan Pablo Arrieta
Director of Communication of ESIC
Telephone: 91 452 41 08
E-mail: juanpablo.arrieta@esic.es
www.esic.es
Laura Villuendas
Head of Communication at Aviva
Telephone: 91 297 18 17
E-mail: laura.villuendas@aviva.es
www.aviva.es
Notes to editors:
About Aviva
Aviva is one of the main insurance groups in Europe and is one of the leaders in the life and pensions market in Spain.
It markets its products through professional brokers (Aviva Vida y Pensiones) and strategic alliances with some of the main Spanish savings banks (Bancaja, Caixa Galicia, Unicaja, Caja España, Caja Granada and Cajamurcia).
Aviva is the fifth largest insurance company in the world, operating in 27 countries and serving 50 million customers.
About ESIC
ESIC, a private centre founded in 1965 by the Religious Institution of the Priests of the Heart of Jesus, the Padres Reparadores, is the leading business school for higher Marketing studies in Spain and through its different areas of activity (degrees, postgraduate courses, executive education, editorial courses and languages) it meets the current needs of business and the competitive business environment by training professionals who are able to analyse, reflect, make decisions and act responsibly at all levels of business.
It has centres in Madrid, Valencia, Murcia, Zaragoza, Pamplona, Seville and Curitiba (Brazil) and provides postgraduate programmes with other prestigious institutions in Malaga, Santander, Granada, Bilbao, Salamanca and Barcelona.
ESIC is a founder member of AEEDE (the Spanish Association of Business Management Schools), a certified member of the Executive EMBA Council and a member of the EFMD (European Foundation for Management Development), CLADEA (Latin American Council of Management Schools), AACSB (The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business), AECE (the Spanish Association for Electronic Commerce), FECEMD (the Spanish Federation of Electronic Commerce and Direct Marketing), IAI (the Institute for the Analysis of Intangible Assets), AEC (the Spanish Association for Quality) and CEG (the Management Excellence Club), among other institutions.