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Proempresa is a microfinance institution offering savings and credit services in Peru. Its mission is to offer financial services that enable the integration and development of small entrepreneurs in the informal sector. This was originally the microfinance program of the Informal Sector Development Association (IDESI). Today, Proempresa is the only microfinance institution in the country that is neither a subsidiary of a private bank nor of a foreign company.
Peru is a middle-income country with significant natural resources, both mineral and food. Almost a third of the population lives in Lima. There are major inequalities between the urban areas and the Andean or Amazonian zones, where the majority of the population is indigenous. Peru is experiencing repeated political crises (5 Presidents of the Republic in 6 years, ten Prime Ministers in the same period).
The aim of Proempresa is to work with small traders and craftsmen in the informal sector in the country’s major urban areas. In particular, Proempresa is developing a specific activity for popular informal markets so that vendors can set up in safe, sheltered premises.
