Written by Peter Heijen on 27 October 2022
Giving up a successful career in banking to make impact, PlusPlus founder Peter Heijen did it. Previously, as a banker, he made rich people even richer. Now, with PlusPlus, he is building "a community of do-gooders". Soon, this inspiring portrait will appear in Dutch newspaper Nederlands Dagblad.
Written by Michelle Steggerda on 25 October 2022
Until now, loans at PlusPlus were always paid in euros. However, for SMEs in Latin America, that is not the most logical currency. For them, paying in euros often involves extra costs and a lot of hassle with their bank. In this continent, the U.S. dollar is the most common foreign currency. Therefore, to make things a little easier for our Latin American entrepreneurs, PlusPlus now offers a loan with repayment in dollars. We will explain here what that means.
"So many people think they have no influence, but anyone can share. You don't have to have much to do so," says Bianca de Bree. This investor shows that everyone can do something meaningful for others. Read her personal story here.
Written by Michelle Schouwenburg on 7 September 2022
Meet Lydia, a Ugandan farmer and a Commission Agent of PlusPlus entrepreneur AgriNet. Lydia has been a maize farmer for many years. But it was not until she started working with AgriNet that she became successful and was able to provide for her family. Here she shares her story.
Written by Michelle Steggerda on 25 August 2022
Last month, our colleague Michelle Steggerda traveled to Central America to visit some PlusPlus entrepreneurs. Especially for us, she put her experiences on paper. Read all about her trip to this region in her personal travel blog.
Written by Michelle Schouwenburg on 22 August 2022
Meet Musa Kiggundu Muwanga, one of the Ugandan entrepreneurs on PlusPlus. The director of Frutrac gives us an update about his company, the impact they make and new opportunities that are opening up to them. And they have the PlusPlus investors to thank for it.
Palm oil has a negative image. Large-scale plantations, for which rain forests are cut down and farmers are kicked off their land, created a bad reputation. But it does not have to be like that! Sustainably produced palm oil, with attention for biodiversity and the environment, offers enormous opportunities for poverty stricken small-scale farmers to build a better life. Michel Riemersma, Solidaridad’s Policy Advisor on Palm Oil, explains why palm oil doesn't have to be a bad thing...
Written by Michelle Schouwenburg on 14 July 2022
Abeza Josée is a maize farmer in the southern part of Rwanda, who, for a long time, considered her farming to be just for survival. After joining a farmer savings group her life changed. With the loans she received, she was able to invest in her crops and increase her yields. The extra profit she reinvested in land. Now, Josée is a businesswoman, with 4 times the land size she once had and with her own tailor business. For women like Josée, access to finance is a key to success. CLECAM, a new project on PlusPlus, provides them with this.
Written by Peter Heijen on 13 July 2022
PlusPlus has something new. This month you can lend money to 250 farmers via a local microcredit partner. An indirect loan, so to speak. Why is this different from a direct loan? And what are the advantages and disadvantages? Our CEO Peter Heijen explains....
Written by Peter Heijen on 28 June 2022
Female entrepreneurship has been growing steep in the past decade. This is very important to close the worldwide gender gap. Entrepreneurship and business ownership empowers women all over the world to strengthen their position. This is even more true in developing countries where the position of females is generally even worse than in developed countries. More than enough reason to contribute to female entrepreneurship and female business ownership in emerging markets!
Poverty and injustice are important themes for Major Wietse Kooistra. They determine most of the choices this investor makes. "The things I do have to be right in both the heart and the head," he says. That applies to his job, but also to the financial decisions he makes. "A loan to PlusPlus is not guaranteed, but it is a reliable investment. The transparency and sustainability really appeal to me."
