News

On 5 June, Alterfin celebrated its 20th anniversary with flashbacks, a meeting with our partners from the South and a look forward at Alterfin’s future. If you weren’t able to attend, don’t worry: we have put together a little summary for you! Les Halles des Tanneurs were completely full on 5 June on the occasion of Alterfin’s 20th anniversary. The weather was tropical, and 300 people attended the event, including many members from all over the country and various NGOs and Alterfin partners from the North. Flashbacks and illustrations of our fieldwork The programme consisted of a look back

Once upon a time, there was microfinance at Alterfin… During Alterfin’s early years, the founding NGOs played an important role in making contact with partners. Hugo Couderé, Alterfin’s director for 18 years, recalls: ‘On my first trip to Peru, I was assisted by Freya Rondelez, the local head of 11.11.11. And in Ecuador, Dominique Morel, now Chair of the Board of Directors of Alterfin, but at that time a development worker at Coopibo (later Vredeseilanden), introduced me to the first local partners.’ Important role played by the NGOs The presence of the founding NGOs in Latin America explains

In 2010, Alterfin was the first Development Fund to be recognised by the Belgian Ministry of Finance. Since then, anyone investing in Alterfin and meeting the conditions has enjoyed a capped 5% tax reduction. This approval was given for a period of five years. In December 2014, we received confirmation of the renewal of this agreement for Alterfin until 2019. The tax benefit for our members has thus also been extended until 2019. In practical terms, this represents a small financial boost for our members (who satisfy the conditions). Above all, though, it means more resources for Alterfin,

Alterfin, a number of NGOs (including Vredeseilanden and Louvain Coopération) and some private investors have created a new social investment fund: Kampani! This fund is intended for agricultural organisations in Africa, Latin America and Asia that are considered too large to benefit from microloans, but too small to receive a loan from conventional banks. Examples of such organisations include African banana cooperatives wishing to export their bananas. What makes Kampani special is that it provides support to small and medium-sized agricultural businesses by entering their capital structure