The project

Juana lives in the heart of Oaxaca and has been making beautiful handmade pottery since she was young. She creates items like bowls, dishes, rice cookers, pots, and jugs. "Everything is handmade," Juana says proudly. "Many people visit us and take my work to other countries and cities like Mexico City. This is how we shape our daily life and make a living."

The production process is labor-intensive: two types of clay are mixed, shaped, fired, colored, and fired again to achieve the final green color. Juana uses a group loan from Sofipa to buy materials like clay and firewood. "This loan helps me a lot," says Juana. "I can buy everything I need to keep working." The group loan provides Juana with financial support and a close-knit community of women who support each other.

Thanks to the group loan, Juana, along with her brother and sister, can live off the sales of her handmade pottery and build a better future. By investing in Sofipa, you support 480 female entrepreneurs in Mexico to achieve their dreams.

What social return could your investment generate? 

Financing is crucial in southeastern Mexico, where Sofipa operates. Historically, this region has faced the greatest challenges. The state of Oaxaca has alarming poverty rates due to a lack of education, infrastructure, and basic services, which hinders development. The lives of women in this area are even more challenging, exacerbating their disadvantages. A loan makes women more independent, creating equal opportunities and empowering them.

With your investment in this Sofipa project, you enable around 480 women to receive a group loan. The loans run on a cycle of 16 weeks (4 months), and with each cycle, the women build a credit history that can help them apply for formal bank loans later on. For a first loan, a group member can borrow up to 7,000 Mexican pesos (340 euros) without collateral. The women guarantee each other, creating a strong social support structure.

What financial return could your investment generate? 

• Annual interest rate of 7%
• The maturity of the loan is 18 months
• Grace period: This project has a grace period. After 12 months, you will receive your first repayment of your investment, and thereafter, you will receive a repayment every 6 months.
• With an investment of 1,000 euros, your expected total repayment would be 1,088 euros
• Please consider that although you invest in EUR, the loan is in USD, so there is a risk of exchange rate fluctuations between dollars and euros. For more information on potential exchange rate risks, please visit our currency page.

The story of Sofipa

Financial inclusion is one of the problems the region of Oaxaca in Mexico is facing. The scarce offer of financial services specialized in reaching low-income citizens inspired the emergence of Sofipa in February 2004. With its existence, Sofipa contributes to financial inclusion and the region's overall development. 

Sofipa started operating under the legal figure of the Cooperative Society. However, in search of being more competitive and innovative, in 2016, they decided to adopt the legal formation of an Investment Promotion Company, SOFOM, ENR. Read more about Sofipa on their company profile page. Since then, it has enabled at least 10.000 women to expand their businesses and improve the lives of their families.

Sofipa in numbers 

• Founded in 2004 
• 467 employees
• Loan portfolio of €13,968,857 (end of 2022), for female group loans
• Approximately 10.000 credits to women a year