NextBillion - A WDI Publication

Banco ProCredit looks to boost loan portfolio 57% this year – Ecuador

Excerpt: Ecuadorian niche bank Banco ProCredit aims to increase its loan portfolio to US$115mn by the end of this year, up 57% on end-2005, CEO Pedro Arriola told BNamericas. The bank’s strategy focuses on strong growth in the small and microenterprises segment, a significant increase in its deposits base and development of a wide range of financial products, the executive said. The average loan extended by ProCredit is US$2,500 and its clients typically earn just US$5...

Source

Business News Americas (link opens in a new window)

Region

Latin America

Development bank seeks new approach to Latin America’s problems

Excerpt: With leftist politicians on the rise throughout Latin America, Washington policymakers are turning their sights on the left-behind majorities fueling the populist surge. It is the latest struggle for the hearts and minds of people in a region swept first by free market reforms favored by the U.S. government and now buffeted by a shift to more home-grown policies that sometimes fly in the face of the United States. Sensing a seismic shift in South American sentimen...

Source

Miami Herald (link opens in a new window)

Region

Latin America

The World Is Hot

Abstract: New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman writes about climate change and its impact in the developing world. Note: TimesSelect is needed to view this article....

Source

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

Region

Latin America

PM to address IDB conference in Washington DC

Abstract: Jamaican Prime Minister Portia Simpson-Miller is one of many speakers at the Inter-American Bank’s conference, "Building Opportunity for the Majority."...

Source

Radio Jamaica (link opens in a new window)

Region

Latin America

Too soon to call a turn

Abstract: In an opinion piece, Richard Lapper explores the possibility of shifting political winds in Latin America. He also discusses the BOP and the new agenda of Inter-American Development Bank, which is being pushed ahead in full force by the Bank’s new president, Luis Alberto Moreno....

Source

Financial Times (link opens in a new window)

Region

Latin America

Mary Jo Foley Cut-rate PC/hardware Windows XP Starter Edition bundles aren’t Microsoft’s only solution for bringing computing to the masses. Microsoft (MSFT) unveiled a new financing program designed to make PCs more affordable to emerging-market customers on May 22, the day before the kick-off of its annual Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC) in Seattle. The new pay-as-you-go program and associated metering technology that enables it are k...

Source

Foxnews.com (link opens in a new window)

Region

Latin America

Nestl?: Corporate Citizenship and the Value Chain

Nestl? is traveling its own road with a proposed new corporate social responsibility model. By Ken Stier Nestl?’s recently unveiled Latin America corporate social responsibility report is the food giant’s bear-hug attempt to understand its operational impacts across a vast sourcing, production and distribution chain. It is also a stab at defining a new corporate responsibility model, one that sits more comfortably with the firm’s defiantly unap...

Source

GreenBiz News (link opens in a new window)

Region

Latin America

Incubating Entrepreneurs

In Chile, a novel training program pairs business-school students with low-income entrepreneurs in a mutually enriching partnership. By Nicole Keller When M?nica Civilo decided to start her own business, she felt disadvantaged because she had no access to financing. (Banks generally require businesses to be up and running, or at least to put up collateral for a loan.) Once she did manage to get the money together, the family toymaker found herself in a complicated situation. ?...

Source

IDB America (link opens in a new window)

Region

Latin America