NextBillion - A WDI Publication

Poor Still Benefit When Microcredit Reaps Megaprofits

IS it right to profit from the poor? This question has sparked a civil war in the business of microcredit - making small loans to the poor in developing countries - and badly tarnished the image of what had been seen as a rare success story in the fight against global poverty. Who wins this battle about how best to deliver aid could determine whether hundreds of millions of people get the chance to escape abject poverty. The controversy began last year when reports emerged that farmers ...

Source

The Australian (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia

Nobel Laureate Loses Last Legal Battle to Save Job at Bank

NEW DELHI - Muhammad Yunus, the Bangladeshi Nobel Peace Prize laureate and microfinance pioneer who popularized the notion of giving tiny loans to the poor, lost his legal battle on Tuesday to hold on to his job as managing director of the bank he created more than 30 years ago. ...

Source

The New York Times (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia

The Ross School and the Confederation of Indian Industry Sign a Memorandum in Honor of CK Prahalad

Delhi, India - The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Ross School of Business signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in Delhi April 1 confirming their intent to collaborate as strategic partners. The MOU will bring together two very unique efforts. It will support CII’s India@75 initiative and the Ross School’s C.K. Prahalad Initiative. The MOU was signed by Robert J. Dolan, dean of the Ross School, and Chandrajit Banerjee, director general of CII. The two organi...

Source

Ross School of Business News and Media (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia

Social Entrepreneurship: Where Are Its Borderlines?

Social entrepreneurship is a concept that emerged lately all-over the world, following the rise of both entrepreneurship and social responsibility, but what qualifies as social entrepreneurship? Do normal businesses generating employment suffice? Or does it have to be an NGO? How can an NGO insure sustainability? Different definitions came up over the years trying to define the borders of social entrepreneurship as summarized by Mair and Marti (2005) ranging between NGOs and for profit ...

Source

Fast Company (link opens in a new window)

IFC To Invest $30M In Dunar Foods

International Finance Corporation (IFC) plans to invest $30 million through a mix of equity and debt in Karnal-headquartered Dunar Foods that is in the business of procurement, processing and supply of basmati rice. It will co-invest with another undisclosed private equity fund that is expected to bring in a separate $10 million for the Haryana-based, privately held rice company. Dunar Foods owns two production facilities - one in Karnal (Haryana) and the other in Amritsar, Punjab (comm...

Source

VCCircle (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia

Turkish Mother of 12 Looking to Expand with Microcredit Success

Ay?e Gams?z, a 72-year-old widow and mother of 12, has been struggling to make ends meet by growing vegetables for the past 35 years. Despite the years of hardships, Gams?z, from the northwestern province of Düzce, has succeeded in saving enough money to send four children to university. Now, however, Gams?z has another reason to be proud after taking home an award in the Personal Struggle Category at the recent Citibank Fourth Microcredit Awards. "After my husband passed awa...

Source

Daily News & Economic Review (link opens in a new window)

Region

Europe & Eurasia

Rallying Cries for Yunus Open Skoll World Forum 2011

Outrage at the campaign being waged against Nobel Prize winner Muhammad Yunus burst to the top of the agenda at the opening ceremony of this year’s Skoll World Forum on social entrepreneurship. eBay’s former president Jeff Skoll, the forum’s founder, drew loud applause as he stepped away from the theme of his opening speech - around collaboration - to commit his support to Yunus. Skoll said Yunus, one of the founding fathers of microcredit, stood to be removed from his...

Source

Socialenterpriselive.com (link opens in a new window)

Encouraging Social Entrepreneurship – in Pictures

Social and business entrepreneurs from around the world gathered in Sweden on Saturday for the three-day Ashoka Globalizer summit . The aim of the event was to find ways to expand the entrepreneurs’ social innovations globally. We feature some of those taking part. Ashoka is an association of the world’s leading social entrepreneurs ...

Source

Guardian.co.uk (link opens in a new window)