Shared Interest News

NEW YORK – Nov. 27, 2006 — A delegation of American investors will travel to South Africa in late-Nov. to explore investing in the country’s community development financial institutions that focus on small- and micro-enterprises.The delegation visit, which will take place on Nov. 25-Dec. 4, will address South Africa’s ongoing struggle for economic and social rights by highlighting key strategies for forging a democratic economy, such as developing township and rural businesses and building successful microfinance institutions.

The visit is sponsored by Shared Interest, a leading New York-based international microfinance organization. Shared Interest works with community development financial institutions in South Africa to access capital for their clients, and reduce their dependency on grants.

“We hope these visits will encourage American investors to consider investing in low-income communities that are shaping South Africa’s efforts to build a just and democratic economy,” said Donna Katzin, executive director of Shared Interest. Since 1994, Shared Interest has guaranteed bank loans for South Africa’s low-income communities to construct houses, create jobs, and launch small businesses.

Recent Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus of Grameen Bank used microcredit financing, an economic tool which lends small loans to poor clients, to help micro-entrepreneurs launch small businesses and bolster household incomes. The Bangladesh-based Grameen Bank has been used as a model for similar institutions around the world.

The delegation will travel to several cities and townships to meet with entrepreneurs and executives of community development financial institutions specializing in small- and micro-enterprises and an agricultural cooperative, as well as grassroots activists on the frontlines of the fight against HIV/AIDS. Additionally, potential investors will visit historical sites to gain insight into South African history from the apartheid era to the current political and economic realities.

Shared Interest, working in close collaboration with South African partner organization Thembani, has facilitated the creation of more than 65,000 low-cost homes, 19,000 new small businesses and 28,000 new jobs, benefiting more than 450,000 South Africans.

For more information on the investor trip, visit www.sharedinterest.org.

CONTACT: Shanta Bryant Gyan 646.290.8211; shanta@sbgcommunications.com * www.sharedinterest.org