The EIB Institute has awarded a 7500€ donation to sparkles.lu, a Luxembourg based NGO supporting female entrepreneurs in less developed countries by providing micro loans to create or expand their business activities and improve their lives and that of their families.
Sparkles.lu is the winner of the EIB Group Volunteering Hub award created in 2018 by the EIB Group Corporate Responsibility Department and funded by the Institute. This award aims to connect EIB Group staff supporting associations, NGOs and charities and staff wishing to engage in volunteering activities or donating money and/or goods. All staff members were invited to vote for one of the Luxembourg-based charities registered on the Volunteering Hub.
Sparkles.lu’s micro loans average 625 dollars and this small amount of money can make a major difference in the life of a micro entrepreneur. Indeed, in most cases, their needs are very simple and they lack the most basic resources to start or develop their business. Most of sparkles.lu’s borrowers are mothers who use part of their profits to send their children to school.
The charity already lent money with no additional interest to more than 1240 women in 51 countries via a crowdfunding platform. As borrowers repay their loan, sparkles.lu allocates the repayments to finance new loans
