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Yes, Microcredit Requires Subsidies … and That’s Great News
Recent research should finally put to rest the assertions that affordable microcredit aimed at poor households does not require subsidy: Serving poor customers well is always going to be expensive. On the plus side, the subsidies are quite small and, according to Timothy Ogden, those who perceive this as anything other than great news bought into the inflated expectations around microcredit.
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- Uncategorized
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New Products, New Markets – New Risks? Microfinance Shifts its Gaze to Housing
$2.3 trillion: That's what low-income households are predicted to spend on urban housing by 2025. So it's no surprise that many microfinance providers view housing lending as their next big opportunity for both profit and social impact. But this new focus brings plenty of challenges – and more than a few risks. We explore the implications of this development – a key topic of discussion at the recent European Microfinance Week.
- Categories
- Investing, Social Enterprise
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As wild weather hits crops, Ethiopian women turn to savings
Increasingly erratic rain and recurring dry spells have slashed harvests and killed livestock in swathes of Ethiopia, raising fears of increased food insecurity.
Women often bear the brunt of such climate pressures, experts say, particularly as they usually have less power over their lives and are chiefly responsible for feeding their families.- Categories
- Agriculture
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Asian Development Bank Bolsters Microfinance Program with $100 Million in Additional Financing
“Giving small businesses and entrepreneurs access to finance is one proven tool to improve livelihoods and reduce poverty,” said Sabine Spohn, Senior Investment Specialist in ADB’s Private Sector Operations Department.
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- Investing
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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Live from European Microfinance Week: Watch Recordings of Friday’s Two Plenary Sessions
NextBillion is covering European Microfinance Week as a media partner, and we're planning to live-stream two plenary sessions on Friday, Dec. 1, via Facebook Live. You can watch the broadcasts on our Facebook Page at 9:00 - 10:30 AM Luxembourg Time/3:00 - 4:30 AM EST, and at 3:30-4:30 PM Luxembourg Time/9:30-10:30 AM EST.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
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The company that turned African telcos into insurance brokers
In the early 2000s, UK-born Richard Leftley spent two weeks doing voluntary work in Kitwe, northern Zambia. During his stay, he met a woman who described her life as “a game of snakes and ladders” – no matter how hard she worked to get herself out of poverty, she kept finding herself right back where she started every time life rolled the dice against her.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Indonesia: IFC proposes to provide up to $50m debt to microfinance institution MBK
The funding is expected to support the growth of the company’s microfinance portfolio, mainly targeting underserved rural women borrowers
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- Asia Pacific
- Tags
- microfinance
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Camilla Nestor Named CEO of Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX)
MIX provides data and analysis on financial service providers, funders and other organizations involved in serving the financial needs of low-income clients through avenues including the MIX Market website, which offers financial and social performance data on approximately 2,000 organizations.
- Categories
- Finance
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