Oikocredit

Oikocredit is an internationally operating cooperative under Dutch law (U.A.). Its headquarters is in Amersfoort. It makes social investments, which means it gives money for projects that help society and the environment, especially in developing countries.The institution does not have a banking license. It finances itself through the deposits and investments of its members and external investors who provide capital as ethical investments.

Oikocredit

Motto	investing in people
Founder(s)	World Council of Churches (WCC)
Established	1975
Focus	providing capital for social and ecological projects, primarily in developing countries
Chairman	Mirjam 't Lam
Staff	250
Address	https://www.oikocredit.coop/
Location	Amersfoort , Netherlands

History

Oikocredit was founded in 1975 on the initiative of the World Council of Churches under the name Ecumenical Development Cooperative Society (EDCS). The goal was to mobilize church reserves for development promotion. The basic approach of linking development promotion with loans and valuable investments initially met with skepticism from church financial and development experts. Initially, some people did not feel comfortable giving loans to disadvantaged people instead of donations. Others disagreed with investing the church's money in something believed to be unlikely to work and yield no financial profit. However, many people from churches throughout Europe believed in the idea of Oikocredit and established Oikocredit support groups in the late 1970s. Through these support groups, private individuals, church communities, associations, foundations, and other organizations could invest in Oikocredit, which had previously been reserved for churches. Today, the support groups provide the majority of Oikocredit's member capital.

Statistics

(As of December 31, 2021)

• Balance sheet: 1,258 million euros
• Project financing: 996 million euros
• Member capital: 1,129 million euros
• 517 partner organizations in 55 countries
• Operating costs: 2.4% - measured against the balance sheet total
• Employees: 206 - (FTE, 55% women, 45% men)

Criticism

The human rights organizations LICADHO, Equitable Cambodia and FIAN, have accused Oikocredit of providing loans in Cambodia that allegedly led to forced land sales. The accusation is that despite evidence of a debt crisis since at least 2017, investments in Cambodian microfinance institutions continued. In response Oikocredit said, that they had not identified any forced land sales and that customer protection is their top priority.