FJN (José Nieborowski Foundation)

Mission: The José Nieborowski Foundation (FJN) is an institution that specializes in providing financial services with personalized attention to micro and small enterprises and employees in the rural and urban sectors, at the national level, to contribute to the holistic and sustainable development of the country.

Specialty: Lending for Agriculture & Rural Micro-Enterprises

Organization Profile: FJN is a regional micro-credit organization that operates in the Northern and Pacific Coast areas of Nicaragua. Many of the towns FJN serves, such as Waslala, are secluded from modern banks because of the deteriorating roads and extreme poverty within the cities. FJN is named in honor of a Polish priest, José Nieborowski, who was actively involved with development work in Boaco. Continuing his legacy, FJN provides local villages with both financial and personal support, holistically helping the poor within these communities.

Financial assistance is given through microcredit loans of agriculture, commerce, housing, and consumption. FJN serves communities in other ways as well. In addition to credit, FJN supplies training, technical assistance, and marketing support to its borrowers. FJN also provides for the families of their borrowers by offering a “solidarity fund” that will pay for the borrower’s funeral, clear the debt owed by the loan, and give the family money to assist them during this tough time. FJN is involved in social projects too. Many of their projects reach out to children in poverty, educating them, providing them with proper health and nutrition, as well as giving them an outlet for fun recreational activities.

NICA Fund Partner Since: 2000

Borrowers: FJN lends to 19,315 total borrowers, of whom 54% are women and 46% are men (as of December 2007).

Lending Portfolio: FJN has a total lending portfolio of $18,239,373 with an average loan size of $944. Of the portfolio, 57% is allocated for agriculture and livestock, 20% towards commerce, small enterprise, and industry, 18% housing, and 5% for consumption (as of December 2007).

Website: http://www.ibw.com.ni/~ongfjn/