Growing a Fruitful Business

In the hilly town of Jinotepe, Nicaragua, Nelson Zuniga Lopez tends to his 60,000 orange, lemon, mango, guava and cocoa trees on his one acre plot of land. At the front of his plant nursery are several large tanks of exotic fish, which he sells to malls in the country.  Today, Nelson is happy that his business is steadily growing, but it wasn’t so long ago when he struggled to expand his business.

As a small business owner, Nelson had difficulty getting loans from big, commercial banks. “The big banks don’t serve people like me,” he says.  When Nelson tried to get a loan for purchasing a truck, he was turned away.

Less than a year ago, Nelson was able to get a $3,000 loan from FINCA. Now on his second loan of $10,000, Nelson uses the credit to purchase soil, fertilizer and insecticide. In addition, the loans help to pay for the salaries of his employees.

“Thanks to FINCA for being so helpful and nice,” Nelson says. “FINCA has really helped me a lot.”