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Viewpoint: Much Hangs on Mobile Money in East Africa
From his shack in Kangemi, a slum at the western edge of Nairobi, Gilbert Onduko sells bare essentials to his neighbours. A blackboard above the hatch lists prices for ugali(maize cooked into a sort of porridge), farina (similar to semolina) and cooking oil. On the roof of the shack is a small solar panel, about the size of a tea tray, which powers two lights inside and a mobile phone. Since he got it, about a month before your correspondent visited, Mr Onduko has been able to keep his shop open until midnight rather than just in the daytime. He has also cut down his kerosene bill by 100 shillings (about $1) a day—a hefty saving in a Nairobi slum. “And now my phone is always charged,” he grins.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Pay-It-Forward Model Shows Potential for Microfinance in Developing Nations
Ten years ago, microfinance was celebrated with the Nobel Peace Prize for its potential to break people out of poverty. Today, the microfinance industry has grown to hundreds of institutions serving more than 150 million borrowers in the developing world, but is widely criticized for exploiting the world’s poor and, ultimately, making poverty worse.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Tags
- lending, microfinance
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India’s Prime Minister Launches ‘Stand Up India’ to Promote Financial Inclusion
Giving a push to government's financial inclusion programme, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today launched the Stand-up India scheme under which 1.25 lakh bank branches will provide loans up to Rs 1 crore to SC/ST and women entrepreneurs.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
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IFC to Lend $150M to Shriram Transport Finance
International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector lending arm of the World Bank, has agreed to invest $150 million in Shriram Transport Finance Company Ltd (STFCL) in the form of senior debt to help the firm provide more finance to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- lending
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Indian Microfinance Self-Regulator Acts to Ward Off Danger of Over-Indebtedness Crisis
The Andhra Pradesh microfinance crisis that put the entire sector on the verge of collapse is still fresh in everybody's mind and MFIN is no exception. Before the crisis, the sector was known for 100% growth year after year while borrowers took loans beyond their capacity to repay leading to the undoing of many of the leading micro lenders.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- lending, microfinance
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OPIC Achieves $1 Billion in Global Microfiance Support
The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), the U.S. Government’s development finance institution, today announced that the agency has surpassed $1 billion in financing support to global microfinance institutions, lenders and frameworks since 2010. OPIC provides financing to microfinance institutions through investments in microfinance vehicles, targeted credit facilities to individual microfinance institutions (MFIs), risk-sharing agreements, and guaranties supporting innovative industry efforts. OPIC’s financing has supported more than 100 microfinance institutions in more than 30 countries.
- Categories
- Investing
- Tags
- lending, microfinance
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Tigo Tanzania Launches Innovative Nano Lending Scheme to Its Mobile Money Customers
Tigo Tanzania has today announced that it will launch an easy to access nano lending product to its stable of mobile financial services. This new product will not require collateral and offers immediate access to small loans to Tigo Pesa users.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Tech Entrepreneurs Boost Microfinance Startup Zidisha
Craigslist founder Craig Newmark and a handful of other tech entrepreneurs and companies have donated a total of $525,000 to microfinance startup Zidisha, which hopes to bring down costs of peer-to-peer lending to cash-strapped young entrepreneurs in the developing world by getting rid of intermediaries.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- lending, microfinance
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