US Program Failed To Award Loans to Intended Targets in Haiti

U.S. Agency for International Department (USAID) started a program that aimed towards boosting up the economy of Haiti through targeted loans to Haitian business units. It has been found in an audit that program failed as the intended targets did not receive the loans, workers were not trained properly and there was no systematic record maintenance. The Office of Inspector General of USAID released the audit report towards the end of February. The aim of this audit was to find out whether areas like waste management, handicrafts, tourism, construction and agriculture were benefited through the promotion of lending practices.

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It was found during the audit that only a few first time borrowers and some women received the loans with the lenders barely making any attempts to work with these people. As a part of post-earthquake reconstruction strategy, the US government identified three corridors for development that were supposed to get the USAID loan. It was found that the loans did not go anywhere but stayed in the capital area, Port-au-Prince.

The two banks named Sogebank and Sofihdes that received $31.5 million in USAID grants focused primarily on the capital city and did not give loans to other part of Haiti. Some of the problems that were identified during the audit were:

• Loans went to prohibited business simply because USAID did not monitor the program periodically.
• Lenders faced late payment issues with Sofihdes suffering more.
• Bad loans showed up because of the absence of portfolio reviews by USAID and Sofihdes and hence, any required corrective actions were overlooked.
• The loan program was supposed to reach areas that required the financial boost but instead, those borrowers who received loans were already eligible for loans from other banks simply because of their previous ties.

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Read more: United States, economy, loans, business, U.S., Woman, USAID, Sogebank, Sofihdes, International

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