Microloans are a great idea. And now Kiva is taking it to the next level, leveraging the power of the network to connect entrepreneurs in developing nations with people in the first world who can make loans, all intermediated by Kiva (much in the same way eBay intermediates auction purchases, even down to Kiva’s use of PayPal for funds transfer).

So now Gretchen and I partners in Awasi Goat Keepers, a business in Soroti, Uganda headed by Joseph Opio (pictured). His profile:

Joseph is married with five children. He started goat rearing after he attended the training that was organized by Village Enterprise Fund.

Later, VEF gave him a donation of $100 grant money in the year 2001.

He has been doing good business in buying and selling of goats to other business people around Soroti town. He has started with lower quality goats and now he is ready to move on to the top breeds in larger sizes. These are very hard to get, and thus it is difficult to expand your business without the help of a loan.

Given a loan of $500, he plans to improve on his stock and also buy more improved goat breeds. This will fetch him enough money and profit that can help him in his family and refund of the loan.

Loans are typically for $300-$500, but individuals can contribute as little as $25 toward a loan. The Awasi Goat Keepers are seeking a $500 loan, and two of us (don’t know who the other person is) have contributed $350 so far. The loan is scheduled to be repaid to Kiva by Joseph in 6-12 months, and at that time our contribution will be returned to us when we’ll have the option to withdraw those funds via PayPal, donate those funds to Kiva directly, or make another loan to another third world entrepreneur. We’ll get regular email updates about the progress of the business and the progress of the loan repayment throughout the term of the loan.

HT: Seth Godin