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How to Save Microfinance from the Indian Government
Microfinance is on the brink of collapse in Andhra Pradesh and across India, but the market for banking to the ultra poor will not disappear. Therefore, the time is ripe for a discussion about the core competency of microfinance and what institutions will fill this void in the coming years, be they for profit or not.
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An Update from the Financial Services for the Poor Team at the Gates Foundation
On November 16 and 17, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation hosted a Global Savings Forum which brought together leading players from around the world. The foundation presented its strategy to provide millions with affordable access to safe places to save.
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Break No Promises
With $500 million and marching orders from the Gates Foundation, banks, microfinance institutions, mobile phone operators, regulators, retailers, and telecom companies, will now venture into a world filled with informal financial mechanisms, often deeply embedded in culture and history. Will these informal mechanisms be brought along or trampled?
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Financial Services for All Kenyans: Equity Bank and M-PESA Go Head to Head
Kenya is home to two extraordinary, but very different, financial service providers that have reached massive scale with unprecedented speed: Equity Bank and Safaricom’s M-PESA.
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Civilizing the ’Wild West’ of Microfinance
Every emerging industry that has survived to transform the world has had to emerge from its "Wild West" phase ? a sort of testing period where ideas are thrown against the wall to see what sticks and what ends up bouncing right back in its face. After a few decades, perhaps microfinance has reached that defining moment.
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- governance, microfinance
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Sustainable Employment: A Necessary Intervention for the Poor
The global rate for extreme poverty is projected to be 15% in 2015, down significantly from 42% in 1990. Still, the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, is a call to explore all possible approaches to stabilize the volatile lives of the poor.
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- Environment
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Bob Annibale: ?Banker to the Banker of the Poor?
Citi’s name is all over the highlight reel of microfinance’s growth in the last decade by "mainstreaming microfinance" into its global operations. More recently, Citi has been developing non-credit products, including microinsurance and savings plans for unbanked customers, according to Bob Annibale, Global Director of Citi Microfinance
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- microfinance
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The Hoop Fund: Connecting BoP Producers with New Markets, Finance
The Hoop has been called the Kiva for fair trade, as it uses the basic platform of micro-lending from individuals to channel finance to emerging market cooperatives. However, according to the Hoop CEO Patrick Donohue, the Hoop?s point of differentiation is on the consumer experience it provides.
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