FDL is a lead institution in credit service provision in Nicaragua’s rural sector and has an important presence in the urban sector as well, tending owners of micro and small businesses, mainly women.

FDL’s portfolio is over U$ 69 million dollars placed with more than 76,000 clients, 56% of whom are women, and 61.4% of the credits are agricultural. We have 37 offices distributed throughout the country.

Our objective is to offer financial products that contribute to national development by capitalizing mainly rural families. To this end we offer not only credit but also non-financial services consisting of technical assistance and training through the Nitlapán Research and Development Institute of the Central American University (UCA). These services permit small rural businesspeople to improve their productive skills, which helps them insert better into the market, increasing their income.

FDL has received various international acknowledgements in recent years as one of the most transparent and best administered institutions in Central America and the Caribbean. These are the CABEI Prize 2006 for Microfinancing Management; the Certificate of Transparency granted by the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP); and the Prize for Excellence in Microfinances for Non-regulated Institutions, granted by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in 2005.

Each year FDL is evaluated by the Italian qualifying company MICROFINANZAS, certified by the CGAP. In the last evaluation (2008), we obtained a AA- rating, which means very good performance and operation.