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Our Staff Writers and Editors offer insights on the latest news, events, interviews and other happenings from the development through enterprise and base of the pyramid universes
Wednesday, May 08, 2013 — No Region Specified

A Microlender Backs Startups to Bring More Than Loans to the Poor

Source: Bloomberg Businessweek

Microlending has lost a lot of its shine in the seven years since Muhammad Yunus won the Nobel Peace Prize for delivering small loans to help poor women start businesses.
Friday, May 03, 2013 — Sub-Saharan Africa

Banishing poverty through banking

Source: The Guardian

Access to financial services could pull millions of people out of poverty, so where does microfinance fit in?
Friday, April 19, 2013 — South Asia

Applications Open for Indian “Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2013”

Source: Press Release

The Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, a Switzerland-based nonprofit, and the Jubilant Bhartia Foundation, an Indian nonprofit, have announced that they are now accepting applications for the 2013 Indian “Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award.”
Wednesday, April 17, 2013 — North Africa and Near East

Beyond Profit: A Talk With Muhammad Yunus

Source: The New York Times

Today, in a ceremony at the United States Capitol, Congressional leaders will present the founder of the Grameen Bank, Muhammad Yunus, with the Congressional Gold Medal in recognition of his “efforts to combat global poverty.”
Wednesday, April 17, 2013 — Asia Pacific

Micro loans reverse poverty cycle

Source: The Australian

With an average loan of about $150, more than two million families in India, Indonesia, The Philippines, China and Ghana are leaving poverty behind thanks to Opportunity International Australia.
Monday, March 18, 2013 — Sub-Saharan Africa

LAPO Boss: Microfinance Industry Needs Intellectual Leadership

Source: The Guardian

LIFT Above Poverty Organisation (LAPO) operated as a pro-poor non-government organisation (NGO) more than two decades before it was licensed a microfinance institution in 2010. The same year it was recognised by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as a micro lender, it paid out N21.9 billion loans.
Tuesday, March 05, 2013 — South Asia

Microcredit loans fall for first time in 13 years

Source: The Globe and Mail

The number of people around the world who have access to microcredit financing has fallen for the first time in 13 years, reflecting turmoil in the sector and the fallout from the global financial crisis.
Tuesday, January 08, 2013 — Asia Pacific

Chinese microcredit firms lend 600 bln yuan

Source: People's Daily Online

BEIJING, Jan. 8 (Xinhua) -- Chinese microcredit companies reported 600 billion yuan (96.31 billion U.S. dollars) in outstanding loans by the end of last year, up 52 percent year on year, an association head said Tuesday.
Wednesday, January 02, 2013 — Latin America

Paying with 'kisses' as Brazil’s social currencies spread

Source: BBC

Shopkeeper Heraldo Rodrigues da Silva, 55, owns a small store in Sao Benedito, one of the poorest neighbourhoods in Vitoria, the capital of the Brazilian state of Espirito Santo.
Thursday, December 27, 2012 — South Asia

AP microfinance crisis helped Bandhan grow by over 50%

Source: The Hindu Business Line

At a time when many microfinance companies are still reeling under pressure following the crisis in Andhra Pradesh about two years ago, Kolkata-based Bandhan Financial Services is planning to expand. The company plans to apply for a banking licence as and when the Reserve Bank of India comes out with the final guidelines on the subject.
Monday, December 10, 2012 — Sub-Saharan Africa

Adult population access to MFBs swells by 4.6m

Source: Business Day

The number of adult population that have a microfinance bank account rose to 4.6 million or 5.2 percent in 2012 as against 3.2 million or 3.8 percent in 2010, representing 1.2 million increase, according to Enhancing Financial Innovation & Access (EFInA)’s access to financial services in Nigeria 2012 survey report.
Friday, November 30, 2012 — No Region Specified

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MasterCard Foundation, CGAP Announce $11.4m Partnership for Branchless Banking, Client Research

Source: Microcapital.org

The MasterCard Foundation, a Canada-based nongovernmental organization (NGO) supporting microfinance and education, and CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor), a US-based nonprofit policy and research center, recently announced a USD 11.4 million partnership to develop low-cost financial products to assist people living in poverty.
Friday, November 30, 2012 — No Region Specified

Impact Investing’s Next Hurdle: Better Networking

Source: Knowledge@Wharton

Tess Mateo is a matchmaker. Her job is to interest private investors in projects throughout the world that will improve the quality of life for people and protect the environment. It is not unusual for her to touch down on four continents in the same number of weeks.
Thursday, November 29, 2012 — North Africa and Near East

Symbiotics’ impact bond issuance platform lends 10 million dollars to AccessBank in Azerbaijan

Source: Press Release

Azerbaijan’s leading microfinance bank, AccessBank, received 10 million dollars through MSME Bonds, Symbiotics’ impact bond issuance platform, on November 20, 2012.
Wednesday, November 28, 2012 — South Asia

Accion’s Frontier Investments Group and Saama Capital Invest $4 Million in Mortgage Company

Source: Sacramento Bee

Early-Stage Equity to Help Expand Shubham Housing's Mission to Serve Urban Poor
Tuesday, November 27, 2012 — Sub-Saharan Africa

M-Shwari platform set to shake up small loans market

Source: Business Daily Africa

Safaricom subscribers can now operate mobile-based savings accounts, earn interest on their deposits and borrow small loans in a move set to raise competition against banks, saccos and shylocks.
Monday, November 19, 2012 — South Asia

‘We are now treading cautiously on lending’

Source: The Hindu Business Line

Dena Bank Chairperson and Managing Director Nupur Mitra, who is due to retire on December 31 this year, feels that customers at the bottom of the pyramid offer lot of opportunities for banks to expand business.
Wednesday, November 14, 2012 — South Asia

My new book will talk about SKS experience: Vikram Akula

Source: Business Standard

A candid account of what went wrong at SKS Microfinance Ltd during 2009-11 is in the offing. Founder and former chairman of SKS Microfinance, Vikram Akula, tells Santosh Tiwari in an interview he was working on his new book, which will focus on his SKS experience and lessons learnt.
Friday, November 09, 2012 — Sub-Saharan Africa

Accion Microfinance Bank Named Nigeria’s Best Microfinance Bank of the Year

Source: Press Release

The Lagos State Enterprise (LEAD) Awards has selected Accion Microfinance Bank Limited (MfB) as Nigeria’s “Best Microfinance Bank of the Year” for the second consecutive year. The selection, by an industry research group for the LEAD awards, was based on Accion MfB’s ‘excellent performance and deep understanding of microlending in the microfinance sector.’
Wednesday, October 31, 2012 — No Region Specified

Habitat for Humanity and the Citi Foundation Unveil Housing Microfinance Toolkit

Source: PYMNTS.com

Habitat for Humanity and the Citi Foundation announced the publication of a new toolkit designed to provide technical training and tools to encourage microfinance institutions to include or enhance housing microfinance products in their portfolios. The Housing Microfinance: Product Development Toolkit is intended to influence the $60 billion global microfinance sector, resulting in small, affordable loans that low-income families can use to improve their housing incrementally.
Monday, October 29, 2012 — Sub-Saharan Africa

N220bn MFBs' fund to drive development, financial inclusion

Source: Punch Nigeria

The Federal Government is set to launch a N220bn fund to enable Nigerian businesses and citizens that lack access to traditional financial services access such services at a much lower cost. The Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Lamido Sanusi, said this at a press conference on the National Financial Inclusion Strategy in Abuja on Wednesday.
Wednesday, October 24, 2012 — Sub-Saharan Africa

Meet The Man Who’s Shaping Africa’s Future

Source: Ventures Africa

VENTURES AFRICA – Just like the great American civil right activist Martin Luther King Jnr. had a dream of an equal social existence, so did Ghanaian-born entrepreneur, Fred Swaniker, dream to build a Pan-African school that will position the new generation of African youth towards prosperity in future years. His mission was to give the African child a network of successful peers to tap for job opportunities, mentoring and career guidance.
Wednesday, October 24, 2012 — South Asia

P Chidambaram urges banks to lend more to the poor

Source: Times of India

By saying banks need to lend more to the poor, Union finance minister P Chidambaram is on the right track. There is no denying that India continues to be a significantly under-banked country. Around 41% of the population is unbanked, with the figure touching as high as 61% in rural areas.
Wednesday, October 17, 2012 — No Region Specified

Release of 2012 MIV Survey – growth stabilizes in spite of lower rates and investor redemptions

Source: Press Release

Washington D.C., October 16, 2012 – Today MicroRate released The State of Microfinance Investment 2012, which finds that microfinance investment has stabilized into a lower growth rate following the global financial crisis.
Tuesday, October 16, 2012 — North Africa and Near East

Egypt’s NBD allocates EGP 200 million to finance micro-enterprises

Source: CPI Financial

National Bank for Development (NBD) has allocated EGP 200 million towards providing funding for small and micro enterprises, and designed a comprehensive range of funding programmes that are Shari'ah-compliant.
Monday, October 15, 2012 — Latin America

Muhammad Yunus announces financing in Haiti

Source: Associated Press

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Nobel peace laureate Mohammad Yunus announced Saturday that his pro-business development group is financing several endeavors through a mix of loans and equity.
Wednesday, October 10, 2012 — Asia Pacific

Oxfam launches fund to make 'impact investments' in the developing world

Source: Third Sector

The overseas aid charity is linking up with the City of London Corporation and Symbiotics to help small and medium-sized enterprises, with the first investment in Mongolia
Wednesday, October 10, 2012 — Sub-Saharan Africa

Samsung, KWFT pact to boost mobile banking

Source: Capital FM

NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 10 – Samsung has partnered with local microfinance solutions provider, Kenya Women Finance Trust – Deposit Taking Microfinance (KWFT-DTM) to promote the uptake of mobile technology solutions among women.
Friday, October 05, 2012 — Europe & Eurasia

Kyrgyzstan's Leading Microfinance Institution, Bai Tushum, Becomes A Bank

Source: The Herald Online

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, Oct. 5, 2012 — /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On September 26 microfinance company Bai Tushum and Partners received preliminary permission from the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic to operate as a bank.
Thursday, October 04, 2012 — Latin America

Accion Invests $3 Million in Mobile Services Provider Tiaxa

Source: Press Release

Accion announced today that its Frontier Investments Group has invested US$3 million in Zonamovil Inc. (“Tiaxa”), a Chilean provider of managed services for the wireless telecom market. For more than 10 years, Tiaxa has provided mobile network operators globally with billing and rating services for prepaid mobile phone users, as well as innovative financial and business intelligence services that increase operator revenues and improve user satisfaction and loyalty.
Wednesday, October 03, 2012 — South Asia

The dawn of e-microfinance

Source: Business Standard

It doesn’t look like Primiya Bai Rout, a vegetable cultivator in Salebhata village of Odisha, belongs in cyberspace. Yet, there she is, with a profile that nestles right next to Niharika Padia’s from New York. It is an unlikely pairing, but what has made it possible is a loan of Rs 400, given by Padia to Rout, so she can finance her vegetable business, thanks to Rangde — an online platform that enables people like Niharika to choose borrowers like Rout from a list of microloan seekers in the most remote corners of India.
Monday, October 01, 2012 — Sub-Saharan Africa

Habitat for Humanity Canada and The MasterCard Foundation partner to expand access to housing microfinance in Africa

Source: Canada Newswire

ACCRA, Ghana, Oct. 1, 2012 /CNW/ - Habitat for Humanity Canada, Habitat for Humanity International (collectively "Habitat") and The MasterCard Foundation today announced the launch of a $6.6 million, five-year partnership to expand microfinance services to maintain and improve homes for disadvantaged families in three African countries.
Thursday, September 20, 2012 — Europe & Eurasia

Microfinance Leaders Launch Global Appeal For Responsible Industry Practices

Source: MarketWatch Press Release

WASHINGTON and PARIS, Sept. 20, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Microfinance leaders today unveiled the "Global Appeal for Responsible Microfinance," a landmark document urging all microfinance stakeholders to take concerted action to ensure a strong and principled microfinance industry. The Appeal was announced at the Convergences 2015 World Forum in Paris.
Monday, September 17, 2012 — Sub-Saharan Africa

Rwanda: Microfinance Firm Boosts Agro-Mechanisation

Source: All Africa

A local microfinance institution, Duterimbere IMF Ltd, has launched new products that target the promotion of agricultural mechanisation among small scale farmers.
Monday, September 17, 2012 — Latin America

12,000 Nicaraguan Families to Benefit From Improved Housing Conditions

Source: Hispanically Speaking News

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) approved a loan of up to $5 million to Nicaragua’s Foundation for the Promotion of Local Development (Prodel), paving the way for the non-profit organization serving the base of the pyramid to expand financing for basic community infrastructure and incremental home improvement projects.
Friday, September 14, 2012 — South Asia

Allahabad MFI Sonata Finance raises $6.35M from Creation Investments, others

Source: VCCircle

Chicago-based Creation Investments made its first investment in India in 2010 by picking up stake in Eko India Financial Services.
Wednesday, September 12, 2012 — South Asia

Citi Foundation Grants $180k to Parinaam Foundation of India

Source: Microcapital.org

Citi Foundation, the charitable arm of the US-based financial provider Citigroup, reportedly has given a grant of INR 10 million (USD 180,000) to Parinaam Foundation, an Indian nonprofit organization, to deliver Parinaam’s Diksha Financial Literacy Program to approximately 31,000 microfinance clients.
Tuesday, September 04, 2012 — South Asia

In Andhra Pradesh, moneylenders rush to fill vacuum created by MFIs

Source: The Hindu Business Line

The Andhra Pradesh crackdown on microfinance companies has driven an increasing number of poor borrowers in the State back into the arms of local moneylenders, a recent survey shows.
Wednesday, August 22, 2012 — South Asia

Start-ups like InVenture flourish with technology services for micro finance firms

Source: The Economic Times

BANGALORE: A new wave of start-up companies is building technology enabled services aimed at bridging the communication gap between borrowers and lenders in the embattled microfinance industry.
Tuesday, August 21, 2012 — Asia Pacific

Rural banks partner with telcos to boost microfinance

Source: The Manila Times

Rural banks will soon have their own set of “killer apps” to better compete with bigger banks and, more importantly, expand their microfinance services in the Philippines.
Monday, August 20, 2012 — South Asia

India’s microfinance industry gets some relief

Source: Devex

It’s a period in history that India’s microfinance industry would probably rather forget: In late 2010, more than 200 poor residents of the Andhra Pradesh state committed suicide allegedly due to excessive pressure from microcreditors for debt repayments. Backlash against microfinance institutions not just in the state but the whole of India followed.
Thursday, August 16, 2012 — Sub-Saharan Africa

Ghana: Midland to Deplore 300 ATMs, 5,000 POS Devices

Source: All Africa

Midland Savings &Loans Company Limited, the leader in Ghana's microfinance sector has disclosed that it would add up four more branches this year to it existing branches to further bring banking services to its numerous customers across the country.
Monday, August 06, 2012 — South Asia

India’s RBI Eases Regulations for Non-Bank Microfinance Lenders

Source: Bloomberg

India’s central bank eased norms for non-bank microfinance companies, removing a cap on lending rates and relaxing risk-provision standards, after some lenders found it difficult to meet existing regulations.
Tuesday, July 31, 2012 — No Region Specified

Is Wall Street a Good Training Ground for Social Entrepreneurs?

Source: Forbes

Luanne Zurlo is the founder of Worldfund, an organization dedicated to improving education in Latin American countries. We recently featured one of her collaborations with the Rassias Center for language. Here we return to Luanne to learn more about her, and about her involvement in this organization that facilitates the education of so many Latin Americans.
Monday, July 30, 2012 — Latin America

DBJ pilots mobile solution to microfinancing

Source: The Jamaica Gleaner

In a bid to reduce loan costs for small-scale commercial borrowers, the Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ) is piloting a mobile money product that was given the green light by the Bank of Jamaica mid-year.
Thursday, July 26, 2012 — Latin America

Mexico experiments with the 'branchless' bank

Source: Marketbplace

Tess Vigeland: The FDIC estimates that somewhere around 18 percent of the U.S. population is what's called underbanked -- Ppeople who turn to payday lenders and check cashing services and the mattress because they don't have good access to the banking system.
Wednesday, July 25, 2012 — Sub-Saharan Africa

Using Small Loans to Generate Big Profits

Source: Wall Street Journal

NAIROBI, Kenya—At a recent group-lending meeting in the Kawangware slum, about 10 miles from downtown, Jackson Munyovi sought $350 to build a new shanty for his wife and two children.
Tuesday, July 17, 2012 — South Asia

Poor women to get mobile feeds on their financial info

Source: The Hindu Business Line

Poor women in Andhra Pradesh could soon get access to their financial transactions on mobile. About 90 lakh women members of self help Groups (SHGs) in Andhra Pradesh can look forward to this facility, thanks to a mobile book-keeping project being launched by the State Government.
Monday, July 02, 2012 — North Africa and Near East

New youth savings program launched in Yemen

Source: AMEinfo.com

Silatech and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ) have signed an agreement with Al-Amal Microfinance Bank (AMB) and Al-Kuraimi Islamic Microfinance Bank (KIMB) in Yemen to provide financial access to tens of thousands of young Yemenis through an innovative new youth savings program.
Friday, June 29, 2012 — South Asia

Annapurna Microfinance raises $2.36M from Incofin Investment Management

Source: VCCircle

Orissa-based Annapurna Microfinance Pvt Ltd (AMPL) has raised Rs 13 crore ($2.6 million) from Belgian investment firm Incofin Investment Management's Rural Impulse Fund II.
Friday, June 22, 2012 — South Asia

Grameen Koota Raises INR 25 Crores through Non-Convertible Debentures

Source: Microfinance Focus

Microfinance Focus, June 22, 2012: Bangalore-headquartered microfinance firm Grameen Financial Services Private Limited (GFSPL), popularly known as Grameen Koota has raised INR 25 Crores (USD 5 million) in debt funding through an issue of secured, redeemable, non-convertible debentures (NCDs).
Wednesday, June 06, 2012 — South Asia

BRAC eyes fully self-funded by 2021

Source: BDNews24

Dhaka, June 5 (bdnews24.com)—BRAC says it is 'gradually' lessening dependency on foreign donations in an effort to be a self-financed organisation by 2021. "Even in 1990 we depended 100 percent on foreign donations, but in 2011 it was only 30 percent," Executive Director Dr Mahbub Hossain said while unveiling the 2011 annual report of the largest Bangladeshi NGO.
Thursday, May 31, 2012 — Asia Pacific

Little Impact Seen From China Private Capital Push

Source: Wall Street Journal

SHANGHAI—China's pledge to give private capital real access to the nation's lucrative banking sector has triggered more skepticism than excitement, with analysts saying entry barriers remain firmly in place.
Friday, May 25, 2012 — South Asia

Yes, Microfinance Does Work. Here's How...

Source: Huffington Post

By now, anyone with an interest in microfinance or poverty alleviation has read the criticism. There are tragic crises in Andhra Pradesh, the regrettable stepping-down of Muhammad Yunus from Grameen, and provocative headlines in the media claiming to refute microcredit's effectiveness. However, I feel strongly that if readers listen only to the white noise, they'll do themselves and the microfinance industry a disservice and, more to the point, they'll be misled.
Tuesday, May 22, 2012 — No Region Specified

India Government Introduces Bill to Regulate Microfinance

Source: Wall Street Journal

NEW DELHI – The Indian government Tuesday introduced a bill in Parliament that will give power to the country's central bank to regulate the microfinance sector, where companies lend to small borrowers. Introduced in the lower house of Parliament by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, the Microfinance Institutions (Development and Regulations) Bill will give powers to the Reserve Bank of India to set the maximum interest rate that can be charged by micro lenders. The RBI will also set performance standards for the institutions and ensure that they use "fair and reasonable methods" for the recovery of loans.
Tuesday, May 22, 2012 — Sub-Saharan Africa

Grameen Foundation, KfW and CARE's Access Africa Fund Invest in World's First 100% Mobile Microfinance Institution

Source: PR Newswire/Market Watch

Grameen Foundation, KfW and CARE's Access Africa Fund announced they have each purchased a 25 percent stake in Musoni Kenya, the first microfinance institution to provide financial services to the poor entirely via mobile phones. Based in Nairobi, Kenya, it provides microloans largely to people who are underserved by the formal financial sector. This investment will help Musoni Kenya grow its operations, deepen its penetration in rural areas where financial inclusion is lowest, and pave the way for it to receive a license to accept savings deposits from the Central Bank of Kenya.
Tuesday, May 15, 2012 — South Asia

Nachiket Mor: The Business Of Morality

Source: Forbes India

In India, businesses and businessmen, particularly from the private sector, have always been viewed with some suspicion. Given our underlying socialist ethos, this is perhaps not surprising, but in recent times, this has worsened with reportage about the various means that some businesses have used to gain an advantage, be it bribing government officials and elected representatives, indulging in coercive practices with their customers, misusing monopoly power, concealing information, or ill-treating employees.
Wednesday, May 09, 2012 — No Region Specified

World Bank unit, MasterCard Foundation boost crucial small loans in Africa

Source: Associated Press

A World Bank partner devoted to developing the private sector and The MasterCard Foundation will spend millions of dollars so more impoverished Africans can get loans and other financial services, officials said.
Thursday, April 19, 2012 — South Asia

Can SKS Change Its Spots?

Source: Forbes India

After being the bad boy of microfinance, SKS is now trying to pick itself up and transform into a more cost-effective, diversified organization.
Wednesday, April 18, 2012 — No Region Specified

Microplanet Technologies Names Daryl Skoog, Former Head of Opportunity International MIS, as Executive Director

Source: Press Release

MicroPlanet brings together a world-class team of technology professionals to support microfinance sector
Wednesday, April 11, 2012 — North Africa and Near East

Microfinance Giant Launches Venture Capital Fund For East Africa

Source: Forbes

Accion, an international microfinance and investment firm, has launched Venture Lab, a $10 million investment vehicle which will provide seed capital and management support to financial inclusion startups worldwide, with a particular focus on East Africa and India.
Friday, April 06, 2012 — South Asia

Government's Heavy-handed Regulation of Microfinance Will Kill It and Bring Back Moneylenders

Source: The Economic Times

Among many Bills stuck in the legislative process is the Micro Finance Institutions (Development and Regulation) Bill. This is a 2011 Bill. An earlier 2007 Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha, but lapsed with the lower House's dissolution in 2009. Financial inclusion shouldn't mean only credit.
Thursday, April 05, 2012 — No Region Specified

What It Will Take to 'Graduate' 1.2 Billion People Out of Extreme Poverty

Source: The Huffington Post

Despite the worldwide recession of the late 2000s, the total number of people living in extreme poverty has actually gone down in recent years -- so much, in fact, that we've reached the first of the UN's eightMillennium Development Goals five years ahead of schedule, a startling achievement. The number living in "extreme poverty" decreased by 100 million between 2005 and 2008.
Tuesday, April 03, 2012 — No Region Specified

Accion Launches Venture Lab, a Seed-Stage Investment Initiative for Financial Inclusion Start-ups

Source: Press Release

Accion, a pioneer and leader in global microfinance, today announced the launch of Venture Lab, an initiative dedicated to providing seed capital and management support to financial inclusion start-ups worldwide. The $10 million program will seek out companies that have completed research and development and are at the pilot/first-revenue stage. Investments will typically be in the range of US $100,000-$300,000, invested either as convertible debt or equity.
Friday, March 30, 2012 — No Region Specified

Is Microfinance an Engine of Development? Finca Says Yes

Source: The Guardian

The jury is still out on whether microcredit makes a difference to the lives of the poor, but stories of its success are compelling
Wednesday, March 28, 2012 — No Region Specified

Is Sustainable Local Development A Persuasive Alternative to Microfinance?

Source: The Guardian

Milford Bateman has made a cogent case for community-based financial institutions that prioritise sustainable local solutions
Tuesday, March 27, 2012 — No Region Specified

Microcredit Is Expanding to New Products for the Poor

Source: Voice of America

We spoke to Ghiyath Nakshbendi about changes in the world of microfinance. He is an expert in international business and teaches microfinance as a business model at the Kogod School of Business at American University.
Monday, March 26, 2012 — Asia Pacific

Microfinance Experience in PHL Shows the Poor Can Be Insured

Source: BusinessMirror

The Philippine success in extending microfinance credit to the poor shows that this sector at and below the poverty threshold could also become worthy of insurance coverage, the Insurance Commission here said.
Thursday, March 22, 2012 — Sub-Saharan Africa

One Acre Fund Helps Africa's Small Farmers Keep in Their Fields

Source: The Christian Science Monitor

The One Acre Fund provides access to microloans, training, insurance, and other hard-to-get help that boosts farmers' incomes and curbs flight from farms into cities.
Thursday, March 22, 2012 — Asia Pacific

Economists Demonstrate One Size Does Not Fit All for Microfinance Programs

Source: MarketWatch

New Study Reveals Wide Variance in Results from Thai Million Baht Village Fund Large-scale microfinance programs are widely used as a tool to fight poverty in developing countries, but a recent study from the Consortium on Financial Systems and Poverty suggests that they can have varying results for participants and may be the most cost-effective use of funds only in limited situations.
Monday, March 19, 2012 — Asia Pacific

Facebook-style Microcredit Site Helps China Farmers

Source: NewStraitsTimes

BEIJING: Dairy farmer Deligeerma needs 642 to buy fodder for her cows during the harsh winter months in northern China. So far, she has received 149 in pledges from four people around the world.
Thursday, March 15, 2012 — South Asia

Tara Thiagarajan Wants the Poor to Get More Out of Their Micro Borrowings

Source: Forbes India

Tara Thiagarajan believes that microfinance institutions (MFIs) have been pursuing the wrong goal. Instead of scale, they should be looking to make loans more effective. That means borrowers should get more out of their borrowings. Along with credit, they should also get the tools and the benefits of a large network to make the most of the credit.
Wednesday, March 14, 2012 — No Region Specified

What Went Wrong with Microfinance?

Source: Time

Long before “99%” became a symbol of Occupy Wall Street, the microfinance industry used the number to describe the share of its clients — poor entrepreneurs shunned by traditional banks — who repaid their micro-loans on time. It’s a number used less and less in microfinance these days — not because of Occupy Wall Street, but because many micro-borrowers are starting to default.
Monday, March 12, 2012 — South Asia

Interest-free Microfinance Hope for Poor Muslims

Source: The Times of India

Making headlines in the recent past for crushing interest rates claiming lives of debtors, microfinance is now being offered with a more humane approach. The Human Welfare Foundation will now offer loans in the form of interest-free microfinance to the poor across the country including Hyderabad, said vice president of Jamat-e-Islami Hind Prof K A Siddique Hassan here on Saturday.
Friday, March 09, 2012 — Asia Pacific

IFC To Start $100M Microfinance Debt Fund

Source: VCCircle

International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector investment arm of the World Bank Group, along with two other investors, will set up a $100 million debt fund called Micro Finance Initiative for Asia (MIFA), to address the funding needs of microfinance institutions in developing and underdeveloped economies.
Friday, March 09, 2012 — South Asia

Using Microfinance to Bring Clean Water to India's Poor

Source: The Huffington Post

A unique public-private partnership involving private sector giants like Unilever and Heinz is improving the health of Indian children. Two hours outside India's tech hub Bangalore is Krishnagiri the Integrated Village Development Project (IVDP) is using interest-free microfinance loans to increase access to products people could not afford on their own.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012 — South Asia

Responsible lending key to microfinance

Source: Live Mint

Mumbai: Microfinance institutions (MFIs) are still struggling for recovery after a crisis triggered by an Andhra Pradesh law in October 2010 that reined in MFIs, which lend small sums of money to poor borrowers; the state is India’s biggest market for such loans. The MFI sector was the subject of a Mint Clarity Through Debate event in Mumbai last week. Responsible lending is is key for the sector’s revival, according to the participants. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) deputy governor K.C. Chakrabarty; director of the Centre for Advanced Financial Research and Learning Usha Thorat; Basix group chairman Vijay Mahajan; chairman and managing director of Small Industries Development Bank of India Sushil Muhnot; International Finance Corporation’s regional manager, financial markets and private equity, Manoj Prashar; and Bandhan Financial Services Pvt. Ltd chairman Chandra Shekhar Ghosh were the panellists in the discussion. Mint’s deputy managing editor Tamal Bandyopadhyay moderated the discussion. Edited excerpts:
Monday, February 27, 2012 — No Region Specified

Former Chairman of SKS Microfinance Akula Shares Lessons Learned

Source: Harvard Social Enterprise Conference

Vikram Akula, the former Chairman of SKS Microfinance, broke his silence today about the mistakes he made in his social venture, in a speech at the Social Enterprise Conference at Harvard. Akula acknowledged the legitimacy of the criticism he had received from Mohammad Yunus, 2006 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Professor and Founder of Grameen Bank, who had long taken issue with SKS’s deployment of private capital in microfinance and its profit orientation.
Thursday, February 16, 2012 — No Region Specified

Commercial MFIs Can Make Markets Work for the Poor

Source: The Economic Times

Commercial microfinance institutions (MFIs) are an exemplification of making markets work for the poor. Are they indeed? A recent piece of research, comparing the lending performance of for-profit MFIs with not-for-profit MFIs, shows that though for-profit MFIs serve close to three-quarters of the market, the evidence does not seem to indicate that these MFIs lend indiscriminately when compared to their peers.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012 — Sub-Saharan Africa

Accion MFB Considers Customers’ Plight, Out With Low Interest Products

Source: Business Day

Accion Micro Finance Bank has come out with cheaper and low interest rate products to meet the needs of its customers.
Monday, February 13, 2012 — South Asia

Microfinance Project Helping Low Income Group In Singapore

Source: Justmeans

An innovative MicroCredit Business Scheme (MCBS) has been launched in Singapore to help people from low-income backgrounds create a sustainable income by establishing or expanding their small businesses. The project is a pioneering initiative in Singapore that is being implement as a collaboration between POSBank (POSB), Tote Board, and the Social Enterprise Hub.
Thursday, February 09, 2012 — South Asia

Akhuwat: Making Microfinance Work

Source: Stanford Social Innovation Review

A groundbreaking microfinance model is bringing out the best in society and bucking the trend of giving out loans that could realistically never be paid back.
Tuesday, February 07, 2012 — Sub-Saharan Africa

Microfinance Services in Ghana Greeted With Hope, Concern

Source: Voice of America

Microfinance, providing financial services to low-income clients, has gained popularity in Ghana in the past 20 years and has played an important role in helping the poor - especially women - improve their lives.
Monday, February 06, 2012 — South Asia

Unitus Seed Fund Launches with Three Social Enterprise Investments in India

Source: Press Release

New Unitus Labs Initiative Seeks to Accelerate Development of Innovative Startups Which Have the Potential to Significantly Benefit Families Living on Less Than $2 Per Day
Tuesday, January 31, 2012 — No Region Specified

Microfinance Will Eliminate Severe Poverty – John Hatch

Source: Microfinance Focus

In an exclusive interview with Microfinance Focus, John Hatch, founder of FINCA and creator of Village banking, discusses the future of microfinance industry and FINCA’s efforts to stay committed to its social mission.
Monday, January 17, 2011 — No Region Specified

Creation Investments Closes Global MFI Fund at $32M

Source: VCCIRCLE

Creation Investments Social Ventures Fund I, a global microfinance-focused private equity fund, has made a final close at $31.8 million. The fund is now eyeing investments in Asia, besides Latin America and Eastern Europe. The Fund's investor base includes 74 US and European institutional investors along with family offices and high net worth individuals. Creation Investments Capital Management, LLC, is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The fund has till date deployed half of this...
  • Managing Partners

    William Davidson Institute
  • Sponsoring Partner

    Citi Foundation
  • Content Partners

    Ashoka
  • Content Partners

    IADB
  • Content Partners

    MercyCorps
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