Author: Agência Brasil - EBC

Source: Agência Brasil - Radiobrás - DF, 15/07/2009

Rio de Janeiro - About 40 thousand micro and small formal and informal entrepreneurs in Rio de Janeiro will be served in the coming years by the microcredit programCrediamigo. The experience, which already exists especially in the Northeast, is aimed at financing groups of solidary economies, which come together to obtain resources in order to structure or expand their small businesses. The agreement that will formalize Crediamigo in Rio was signed today (15) in the morning by the city of Rio and Banco do Nordeste, responsible for the program.

Since March, when it was implemented in Rio on an experimental basis, the program has granted R $ 1 million in financing, serving approximately 500 people. According to Mayor Eduardo Paes, the expectation is that R $ 50 million in loans will be granted until the end of next year. The service is currently available in five low-income communities: Rocinha, Rio das Pedras, Inhoaíba, Maré and Glória.

“This is a fantastic opportunity to offer people the resources to walk, move forward, set up their businesses and not depend on the help of governments. We want to expand the program to the entire municipality by the end of next year, ”said Paes.

The partnership also foresees that the prefecture invests R $ 70 thousand per year in the training of agents to disseminate the program in the communities of Rio.

The secretary of Solidarity Economic Development of Rio, Marcelo Henrique da Costa, informed that initially the city hall will make available approximately 20 spaces in needy communities of the city for which credit offering agencies are installed. According to him, the great advantages of the program are the low degree of bureaucracy to obtain financing and the low rate of default.

“The most interesting thing about all this is that it is a low-bureaucratic process. The informal [entrepreneur], who is a reality in our city and until today was outside the credit system, will be able to receive [the financing]. These funds are distributed among solidarity groups, in which one member is the guarantor of the other. This means that the program has the lowest default rate in Brazil, 1,5%, and wants a sustainable program ”, he said.

The loans vary between R $ 100 and R $ 10 and can be used to form working capital, purchase machinery and equipment, in addition to modernizing or renovating the project's facilities. The interest charged ranges from 1,32% to 3% and the payment term can reach 36 months.

It was these characteristics that attracted the group of street vendors coordinated byManoel de Azevedo. He and his companions have stalls selling biscuits and candy at Maria da Graça train station, in zonanorte, and sought out a Crediamigo agency to increase inventory and increase sales.

“We took a credit of R $ 5 to pay in five years and we are going to invest in goods. If today we sell an average of R $ 150 per day, I think we can earn more selling all the stock in about 15 days. This will give us a 100% profit in that period, ”said Azevedo.

For him, the associative logic makes the process reliable: “We already know each other and trust each other. We are together and that is why it is going on. ”

Red friend is offered in all the states of the Northeast, in MinasGerais, in Espírito Santo and in the Federal District. In the last 12 months, there was an expansion of 56%. This year, the expectation is that 72 more service points will be opened across the country.