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Serving SMEs in a Tough Neighborhood: Part two of our Q&A with the CEO and Managing Director of the Middle East Investment Initiative
The Middle East Investment Initiative is a U.S.-based non-profit whose mission is to develop innovative finance tools for SMEs in the Middle East and North Africa, including the Palestinian Territories. Its CEO and Managing Director discuss the challenges it faces - from attitudes toward women to political instability - working in this volatile region.
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- Uncategorized
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Accion Microfinance Bank Attains National MFB Status in Nigeria, Gives Out N32bn Loans
Accion Microfinance Bank Limited has upgraded to the category of a national microfinance bank (MFB). By this development, the bank said, it has surpassed the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) requirements for a national MFB.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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bKash CEO Discusses the Scope, Growth and Future Prospects of Mobile Banking in Bangladesh
In a recent interview with Dhaka Tribune, Kamal Quadir, CEO of bKash, discusses the scope, growth and future prospects of mobile banking in our country.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
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Interview: Why India Is At the Hawk Eyes of All Investors, Explains Eric Savage
Eric Savage is a Duke and Harvard-educated American investment banker who chose to leave a high-flying career with Citigroup in Hong Kong to come to Bengaluru in 2008. Here he launched Unitus Capital, a firm that specializes in helping social enterprises to raise funds. Social enterprises apply market approaches to address societal challenges.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
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Peace Through Finance?: How the Middle East Investment Initiative uses financial tools to help a troubled region
It often seems like a unique set of religious and tribal conflicts are responsible for the Middle East’s problems. But they’re also driven in part by a more universal concern: a weak economy. That’s why the Middle East Investment Initiative is delivering finance and technical assistance that stimulate sustainable economic growth in the region. We discuss this approach with the organization’s CEO and Managing Director in part 1 of this Q&A.
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Teaching the Poor to be Better Customers: Marketplace literacy is the missing piece in the poverty fight
The knowledge gap results in lost wages and limited opportunity for poor people to lift themselves out of poverty. The answer, argues Business Professor Madhu Viswanathan, is marketplace literacy efforts that help the poor evaluate opportunity costs (money, time and effort) of buying a product or service. He reflects on the Marketplace Literacy Project, which he founded more than 10 years ago.
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OPINION: Responsible Investors Needed in Weak Microfinance Markets
Four years have passed since the launch of the Principles for Investors in Inclusive Finance, a compact signed by 40 global investors in the Netherlands. The introduction to these principles states:
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Zambian MFIs Complain of Negative Impact of Bank of Zambia Interest Rates Limits
The decision by Bank of Zambia (BoZ) to limit interest rates that licenced non-banking financial institutions can charge customers had a negative effect on micro-finance institutions (MFIs) performance last year.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- lending, microfinance
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