NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Rich I.P.O. Brings Controversy to SKS Microfinance

An Indian company with rich American backers is about to raise up to $350 million in a stock offering closely watched by philanthropists around the world, showing that big profits can be made from small helping-hand loans to poor cowherds and basket weavers. The company, SKS Microfinance, is one of the biggest players in the field known as ...

Source

New York Times (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia

The New Normal: Haiti After the Earthquake

It’s amazing how quickly things can return to normal. You wouldn’t know it from watching CNN, but big segments of life in Haiti, including in the capital, Port au Prince, which suffered the greatest damage, have returned to what would have been considered normal in the days and months before the quake. There is plenty of destruction still evident, and tens or even hundreds of thousands of people living in tents or under blue plastic tarpaulins throu...

Source

Benzinga.com (link opens in a new window)

Region

Latin America

SKS Microfinance: Giant squid, ?Devta? or Just a Business?

I’ve written in this space before asking why my BlackBerry stayed on the grid in a remote mountain village where basic banking was missing. A few years earlier I had argued for a model that would make financial services as ubiquitous as paan masala , glucose biscuits and shampoo sachets in remote rural India. So now when this comes to pass in the form of an initial public offering (IPO) from a microfinance firm that has made capital availab...

Source

LiveMint (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia

Marketing to the Poor: Lessons from Nestl?s Strategy in the Amazon

I came across a news alert on CSRwire a couple of weeks ago posing an interesting question: ’Is it bad to bring American candy to remote villages in the Amazon - or worse to keep it from them?’ It featured an article by sustainability journalist Marc Gunther which explored the ethical dilemmas of marketing to the poor as highlighted by the launch of Nestlé’s new marketing strategy in Brazil - a ’floating supermarket’ designed to reach isolated riverside communities ...

Source

CSR Asia (link opens in a new window)

Would You Like a Soda with Your Small Loan?

SKS Microfinance, India’s largest microfinance institution (MFI), aims to raise up to $353 million in a closely watched IPO that has already drawn top anchor investors. As India’s largest MFI and the first to do an IPO, SKS is answering lots of questions : Should MFIs charge ...

Source

Reuters (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia

Innovating Solutions for India’s Challenges

Last week, Kapil Sibal unveiled the prototype of a Rs 1,500 tablet pc aimed at providing an ultra-low-cost solution targeted towards making computer literacy accessible to those who are at the bottom of the pyramid. The minister believes that not only it is possible to see a commercial launch of this prototype as early as in 2011, but also a price-point which could eventually be as low as Rs 500. A few months ago, Tata Group launched an ultra-l...

Source

Business Standard (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia

For Love or for Money? SKS Microfinance IPO Stirs Debate

MUMBAI, India (AP) - An Indian company that makes tiny loans to villagers aims to raise up to $354 million in an initial public offering, a move critics fear will encourage the microfinance lender - India’s largest - to put shareholders above the poor it serves. SKS Microfinance’s share sale, launched Wednesday, has already drawn the ire of one of the leading lights in the field. A publicly traded company’s traditional obligation is...

Source

Canadian Business (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia

Grameen Foundation and ThoughtWorks Partner on Microfinance Tech Platform

WASHINGTON and CHICAGO, July 27 /PRNewswire/ -- ThoughtWorks, Inc., ( www.thoughtworks.com ) the global leader in Agile methods of software development, today announced a global initiative to provide software engineering services for Grameen Foundation’s Mifos platform. ThoughtWorks has established a dedicated team to advance the next-generation Mifos technology ar...

Source

PR Newswire (link opens in a new window)