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

Travel-Blogue Day 6: Muhammad Yunus? Next Big Thing

The way Noble Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus sees it, the micro-credit revolution is running its course in his home country of Bangladesh. Between his Grameen Bank and other NGOs, which together make Bangladesh the most heavily micro-credit-enabled place on earth, he estimates that about 80% of the poor families that might want to participate are being served already. His goal is for Grameen to help finish the job by 2012. What’s next? Health care. This is the biggest ...

Source

Business Week Blog (link opens in a new window)

Region

Europe & Eurasia

Migrant workers sending money home has become the biggest source of foreign income in some poor European countries, the World Bank has said. In a report on European and Central Asian (ECA) nations, the bank said that remittances sometimes beat foreign investment aid and exports in size. Officially recorded payments in the region - which includes former Soviet states - were over $19bn (?9.67bn). The largest amount of remittances, as a share of GDP, were sent to...

Source

BBC (link opens in a new window)

Region

Europe & Eurasia

EBRD signs first Mongolia project, microfinance loan

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) signed its first project in Mongolia on Wednesday, a $5 million loan to XacBank, which specialises in microfinance. The funds will be lent on to small and micro-businesses throughout the country. XacBank, licensed four and a half years ago, offers loans ranging in size from $27 to $150,000, according to its Web site (www.xacbank.org). Continue reading ...

Source

Yahoo! Asia News (link opens in a new window)

Region

Europe & Eurasia

IFC to Help Kyrgyz Not-for-Profit Group Reach More Microentrepreneurs

The International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, today signed an agreement to provide a $2.2 million financing package to Micro Credit Agency Bai Tushum Financial Foundation, one of Kyrgyzstan?s leading micro lending institutions. Through the package, IFC will support the transformation of Bai Tushum from its present not-for-profit status to a more sustainable, commercially-oriented, deposit-taking financial institution that can serve as a...

Source

ifc.org (link opens in a new window)

Region

Europe & Eurasia