A couple of months ago, I have created an account on Kiva.org. Kiva enables you to loan to small businesses in developing countries.
You can see my lender page here.
I’ve helped among others 2 projects, one Internet cafe (Loan Requested: $975.00) in Ayacucho, Peru and one bookstore (Loan Requested: $975.00) in Agoe, Togo.
Small Amount of money to be honest ($100 + $10 donation to Kiva). It was a trial to verify by myself if the social business concept is really effective.
The answer seems to be yes because i just received the first repayment from both projects.
It’s a great feeling to see these projects becoming a reality and more important repaying their debt to give others the opportunity to been also helped.
Herve, I’m a lender on Kiva, too. Feels great. I’m in the online business too; most recently set up the interaction design department for AGA-ADK in Dubai. Cheers. Mathew Jacob