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

Muhammad Yunus: Sacrificing Microcredit for Megaprofits

In the 1970s, when I began working here on what would eventually be called "microcredit," one of my goals was to eliminate the presence of loan sharks who grow rich by preying on the poor. In 1983, I founded Grameen Bank to provide small loans that people, especially poor women, could use to bring themselves out of poverty. At that time, I never imagined that one day microcredit would give rise to its own breed of loan sharks. But it has. And as a result, ...

Source

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

Region

South Asia

ICICI Bank, Vodafone Join Hands to Offer Mobile Banking

NEW DELHI: In order to take advantage of the mobile teledensity in India, private sector lender ICICI Bank today entered into an agreement with mobile service provider Vodafone Essar to offer financial products such as savings accounts and pre-paid instruments. This partnership is expected to bring the unbanked and under-banked population into the organised financial services ...

Source

Economic Times (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia

A Light in India

In vast stretches of the developing world, after the sun sets, everything goes dark. In sub-Saharan Africa, about 70 percent of the population lack electricity. However, no country has more citizens living without power than India, where more than 400 million people , the vast majority of them villagers, have no electricity. The place that remains most in darkness is Bihar, India’s poor...

Source

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

Region

South Asia

SKS Cuts Interest Rate to 24.55%

SKS Microfinance, the only listed microfinance institution (MFI) in the country, has reduced interest rates from 26.69 per cent to 24.55 per cent. The change would apply uniformly across the country, with effect from January 11. "The company will not collect any credit shield charge, loan processing fee or card fee. With this, all effective interest rates will remain at 24.55 per cent (depreciating), or a flat 12.55 per cent a year, for all future disbursements," the company said in a f...

Source

Business Standard (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia

Govt to De-risk Home Loans to Poor

New Delhi The government is in the process of setting up a mortgage guarantee fund which will cover the risk of home loans given to the poor by banks and housing finance companies, Minister of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Kumari Selja said. "Housing finance companies (HFCs) and banks hesitate to serve the low-income market for a variety of reasons such as inability to assess credit worthiness, uncertain cash flows and lower profits," she said while addressing t...

Source

Express India (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia

Ebay Founder Plans to be India’s Biggest Social Investor

The philanthropic fund started by Pierre Omidyar, the founder of Ebay Inc, plans to be the biggest investor in projects targeting India’s 900 million poor, living on less than $2 a day. "The rate at which we’re investing, we will probably be the leading firm in that space at the bottom of the pyramid," said Jayant Sinha, managing director of Omidyar Network’s India operations. Ranked second on Barron’s list of the world’s 25 best philanthropists last month, the...

Source

Business Standard (link opens in a new window)

Categories

Agriculture

Region

South Asia

Indian Tales of Inclusive Business Models

We just spent the last few weeks criss-crossing India to discover how private sector companies are striving to support India’s quest for "inclusive growth." Inclusive growth has become the economic development mantra for both Indian politicians and CEOs in recent months. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is championing this concept to ensure that even as the red-hot Indian economy keeps growing at 9%, this growth is equ...

Source

Harvard Business Review (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia

Husk Power Systems Wants to Lead “a Revolution in Electricity”

Sometimes the simplest ideas can produce powerful results. Husk Power Systems (HPS) is premised on a simple need--for electricity--and a simple material--discarded rice husks. The for-profit social enterprise was started four years ago by three Indians from the state of Bihar, along with one American classmate from the University of Virginia...

Source

Fast Company (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia