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For Arunachalam, MFI Industry Still Has Lessons to Learn
Ramesh Arunachalam, a development practitioner and staunch critic of the microfinance industry, recently published "The Journey of Indian Microfinance: Lessons for the Future." In a NextBillion interview, he suggests a practical framework that policy-makers and other stakeholders will need to follow in order for Microfinance to thrive once more.
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- Uncategorized
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Proteak’s IPO Journey, Part II: Lessons Learned
In part one of my interview with Proteak Founder Hector Bonilla, he explained why the Mexico-based sustainable timber company decided to go public. In the part two he shares how the initial public offering changed the company for the long-term, and shares advice for social entrepreneurs and their investors seeking a successful financial exit.
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- Environment
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The FOUND Middle: An ANDE Video Series
ANDE is all about identifying and supporting businesses that are often too large for microfinance, but too small for traditional financing (AKA: the missing middle). But "missing" implies this sector doesn’t exist, when in fact there is a thriving ecosystem of small and growing businesses. Today, we’re launching video series that spotlights them.
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- Investing
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Friday Roundup ? 9/30/11: The IFC’s 7 Business Models for Inclusion, Are There More?
The International Finance Corporation took a close look at its investment portfolio and found seven common traits of successful inclusive businesses. In its recently released report, Accelerating Inclusive Business Opportunities, the IFC highlights those models - from micro distributions to smallholder procurement. Did the IFC miss any?
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- Uncategorized
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Calling Africa’s Social Entrepreneurs
Africa may seem to be a bit lost on the inclusive-market-social-entrepreneurship-map. Most big MFI funds have only small portfolios in the area, and the BIG success stories cited are often from India. But there’s a LOT going on. A team from Queen’s University has set out to find out how much, what, and where - and will make their insights public.
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- Social Enterprise
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Where’s the Bank? Proximity is Critical, So Why Aren’t Academics Writing About It?
Most academic papers on access to finance focus on behavioral economics and product design issues, but skip proximity and cost of access. Yet if there is one common element in all successful microfinance schemes it’s been finding ways to get closer to customers. An argument for learning how the nuances of distance influences market behavior.
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- Education
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Show Me Your Pricing Data: Transparency Helps Philippines Lead Global Microfinance
"The Philippines receives a perfect score...for the way it regulates the microcredit activities of established financial institutions." -- Economist Intelligence Unit,"Global Microscope on the Microfinance Business Environment" [1] The microfinance industry has taken a beating lately. In March, Nobel Prize winner Muhammad Yunnus was ousted from his position as managing director of the microcredit lender Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, which he founded in 1983, by the ...
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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How to Reach Out to Rural India? Practitioners and Academics In Dialogue
There is no shortage of ideas, and some would even say no shortage of products, that would help the rural poor to improve their social and economic situation. But distribution remains a key challenge. At the oikos swiss Practitioner Day 2011, young scholars, local experts and practitioners from several companies discussed how to tackle the issue.
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- Agriculture, Technology
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