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GetBucks Goes for the Bucks in Botswana
The Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) has approved the Programme Memorandum for the Note and it is anticipated that the Note will be listed on the BSE on Monday, 30 January 2017. Proceeds from the first tranche of the Note of up to BWP 200 million will be used by the Issuer to reduce the cost of funding.
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- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Fintech or Die: Five Ways Microfinance Can (and Must) Respond to the Digital Age
MicroSave founder Graham Wright hasn't been shy in criticizing the ways lenders are currently leveraging fintech to serve low-income clients. But his views on its potential in microfinance are far more bullish than this criticism might suggest. "Very soon, if MFIs don't develop a strategy and implement fintech behind that strategy, I think they will simply become irrelevant and slowly but surely shrink and die," he said in this frank video Q&A.
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- Technology
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Announcing NextBillion’s 2017 Editorial Calendar and Our First Monthly Theme: Microfinance
It's a new year, and NextBillion is announcing a new approach to showcase our diverse array of content: Each month, along with our regular coverage of the broader social business world, we’ll dedicate special coverage to a specific sector. We're launching the concept this month, with a special focus on microfinance. You can view our full 2017 editorial calendar here.
- Categories
- Social Enterprise
- Tags
- microfinance
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The Hidden Impact of Microcredit: Three Under-recognized Ways the Industry Can Help Emerging Markets
Microcredit has historically been evaluated – and often found lacking – on the terms that the industry was built on: raising the income, investment and consumption of clients. But, according to Timothy Ogden, there are other ways that microfinance may have had an impact, including helping to build institutions, training people in the technology of management, and strengthening civil society.
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- Uncategorized
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Bangladesh government plans to strengthen Grameen Bank
Finance Minister AMA Muhith has said the government plans to strengthen Grameen Bank further so that the Nobel Prize winning microcredit lender becomes more relevant in changing times.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
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Microfinance Looks Toward the Future – But Will Fintech Revive the Controversies of Its Past?
James Militzer's wrap-up of European Microfinance Week says microfinance has lurched from development sector darling to punching bag over the years, but in the midst of this turmoil – and in reaction to it – practitioners at industry events have been diligently reimagining their sector. That take earned Militzer a spot in our Most Influential contest. You can participate by casting a vote ... but you've only got one more day.
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- Uncategorized
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Opportunity International and MyBucks: A Dangerous Partnership Decision?
Long-time microfinance watchdog Chuck Waterfield expresses serious concerns about the ramifications of Opportunity International's sale of six microfinance banks to the fintech company MyBucks – both for the clients of those banks as well as for the broader microfinance industry. This post, which originally appeared on June 21, was the most popular post on NB that month, and is part of our Most Influential Post of 2016 contest.
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- Uncategorized
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The Surprising Reason Why Savings Boosts Income: New Research Reveals an Unexpected Benefit of Financial Inclusion
Make it easier to save, and people will save more. This seems straightforward and holds true for customers in rich and poor countries alike. Make it easier to save, and people will save more and earn more. This sounds a little less intuitive, especially if you posit that this increase in income will happen almost immediately. Yet this is exactly what researchers have found - and the reason why is surprising.
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- Uncategorized
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