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PAYGo Solar at a Crossroads: Why the Industry Must Choose Between Protecting Customers and Satisfying Investors
Over $500 million in investor financing has poured into off-grid solar in the past year. But while that's an exciting development for the sector, there is a downside. As BrightLife CEO Stefan Grundmann explains, PAYGo solar operators are facing heightened investor pressure to expand their reach and aggressively deliver greater sales. In response, many companies have taken new measures to boost business – some of which have led to troubling new risks for customers. Grundmann explores this issue, and how the industry and its investors should respond to it.
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Viewpoint: 3 Reasons the Impact of Microcredit May Be Bigger Than We Thought
There was little evidence of female empowerment. Microloans did foster entrepreneurialism, but at the cost of other sources of income. However, subsequent research has hinted that rumors of microcredit’s demise as a poverty intervention do appear to be exaggerated, perhaps substantially, and I want to present three reasons why the impact of microcredit around the world, while modest on average, is almost certainly bigger than we thought it was a few years ago.
- Categories
- Finance
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Viewpoint: Can the Microcredit Model Be Improved?
Microcredit is frequently touted as an effective policy tool to fight global poverty. But studies suggest that the long-term impact on recipients’ lives is limited. Yale SOM’s Mushfiq Mobarak and the University of Chicago’s Vikas Dimble write that microcredit can help more people by modifying and extending its model.
- Categories
- Finance, Impact Assessment
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Kiva’s Co-Founder Is Joining This Leo DiCaprio-Backed Bank
A wave of tech-centric “neo-banks” have popped up in recent years, usually promising a smoother customer experience marked by lower fees and branch-less, online-oriented services. And some have sought to go even further—differentiating themselves from the competition via a focus on on socially and environmentally conscious values, investments and product offerings.
- Region
- North America
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BRAC Microfinance Transforms Into Tier 2 Bank
“We have refurbished 32 of our 163 branches and outlets in 84 districts of Uganda. Upgraded all our software and hardware to meet the required Bank of Uganda standards for Tier 2 institutions,” said Adiga during the Bank’s official launch at Kampala Serena Hotel.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- South Asia
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Report: India’s Microfinance Sector Seeing Increasing Risk of Overleverage
Icra said in a statement that an analysis of the portfolio of micro finance institutions (MFIs) reveals that the ticket sizes and loan tenures are rising.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- microfinance
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Good News for Microfinance: Grameen America Discusses Promising New Research on its Anti-Poverty Impact
In an atmosphere of considerable skepticism about microfinance's anti-poverty impact, Grameen America recently released some positive findings: Early results from an RCT on its group lending model show solid impacts on areas ranging from members' credit scores to their business operations. NextBillion spoke with Marcus Berkowitz, VP of Technology & Innovation at Grameen America, to discuss these results and their implications for microfinance in the U.S. and globally.
- Categories
- Finance
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Kenya, Rwanda top region in financial inclusion
Kenya and Rwanda have the highest proportion of their adult populations accessing financial services, a newly-published report says, making them East Africa’s most financially inclusive economies.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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