-
Viewpoint: The Markets Are Collapsing: Will Microfinance Save Us Again?
Global markets have evolved, and the reality is that we are now more connected than ever. Should investors look to microfinance again as a safe haven? In order to answer that, we need to understand how microfinance and impact investing are connected and how they are different.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance
-
A Spotlight on Effective and Inclusive Savings
Saving for an unpredictable future is one of the few genuinely universal life tenets. But for much of the past 40 years, the microfinance sector has focused overwhelmingly on credit. As Sam Mendelson and Daniel Rozas at e-MFP explain, that's one reason the 2020 European Microfinance Award is focused on “Encouraging Effective & Inclusive Savings.” They discuss the benefits of savings in introducing the €100,000 award – which is open for applications until April 15.
- Categories
- Finance
-
Press Release: Microfinance Provider Esperanza Selects EdApp to Help Educate in the Dominican Republic
Esperanza, in partnership with MoveUp, has announced the deployment of EdApp to transform the way their not-for-profit organisation workforce engages in business training and social support.
- Categories
- Education
- Region
- Latin America
-
How Microfinance Can Impact Employment: Going Beyond Microloans to Microentrepreneurs
Though its focus has broadened in recent years, microfinance and employment have always gone hand-in-hand. In this video interview, Craig Churchill, head of the Social Finance Programme at the International Labour Organization, discusses how modern microfinance can better serve the low-income labor force – from supporting job-creating startups, to responding to poor labor practices among their clients.
- Categories
- Finance
-
Paymob, Tamweely Team up to Empower Female Entrepreneurs
The #AcceptTheChange campaign will initially aim to empower 250 female merchants (and their female clients) by availing e-payment solutions that will allow the selected entrepreneurs to further benefit from a booming digital economy in Egypt.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- North Africa & Near East
-
Changing Mindsets to Empower Women: Roshaneh Zafar, On How Kashf Foundation Helped Microfinance Take Root in Pakistan
There was no shortage of skeptics when Roshaneh Zafar first started talking about launching a microfinance institution with a focus on women's empowerment in Pakistan. But over two decades after founding Kashf Foundation, Zafar has proven them wrong. In this video Q&A, she discusses how she brought the first specialized microfinance institution to Pakistan – and crafted an approach that helps the country's female entrepreneurs overcome the unique barriers they face.
- Categories
- Finance
-
Optimism, Confusion and Soul-Searching: The Financial Inclusion Compass 2019 Reveals a Sector at an Inflection Point
It's not your imagination: Financial inclusion is getting more complex. As Sam Mendelson at e-MFP points out, the sector expands in depth and breadth each year – from new products and players to increased expectations of impact. To cut through the confusion, e-MFP publishes The Financial Inclusion Compass, a report based on a broad survey of stakeholders, who share their views on the sector’s present and future. He discusses some highlights from the 2019 report.
- Categories
- Finance
-
Bamboo Capital Exits Accion Microfinance Bank
Bamboo Capital Partners, an impact investing platform, has successfully exited its indirect stake in one of the leading microfinance banks in Nigeria, Accion Microfinance Bank (Accion MfB).
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa