-
Indian Microfinance Institutions Have Just Busted a Myth
By definition, microfinance is the business of giving tiny loans to people who do not have access to formal banking services. The Investopedia website defines microfinance as a type of banking service that is provided to unemployed or low-income individuals or groups who would otherwise have no other means of gaining financial services. “...the goal of microfinance is to give-low income people an opportunity to become self-sufficient by providing a means of saving money, borrowing money and insurance,” it says. In India, microfinance institutions (MFIs) cannot collect deposits, but sell insurance products, besides offering small loans that are typically paid back in weekly or monthly instalments.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
-
5 African Microfinance Startups to Watch
The African finance sector shot into the global limelight with the success of mobile money system M-PESA, which is heralded as proof of the continent’s capacity to lead the world in innovation in the payments space. Since then, the innovation has continued, and today a raft of mobile payments companies are active across the continent. Here Disrupt Africa showcases five of the top African m-finance startups to watch.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- microfinance
-
From Interior Design to Microfinance in South Sudan
On a warm afternoon in this dirt-road town, 34-year-old Missy Williams sits on a plastic chair beneath a thatched roof in the center of a bustling market.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- lending, microfinance
-
IDB Loans $10M to Paraguay’s Vision Banco to Fund Water, Sanitation Facilities for Low-Income Populations
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), a US-based multilateral finance institution that operates in Latin America and the Caribbean, recently approved a loan of USD 10 million to Vision Banco, a microfinance institution (MFI) in Paraguay. The loan will be disbursed from IDB’s Opportunities for the Majority Sector facility, which lends, invests equity, offers technical advice and provides partial guarantees and risk-sharing facilities to “companies, financial intermediaries … [and] non-profits that are willing to engage with the base of the socioeconomic pyramid”[4].
- Categories
- Agriculture, Health Care
- Region
- Latin America
- Tags
- lending, microfinance
-
This Indonesian Microfinance Startup Wants to Put Loan Sharks Out of Business
In Indonesia, 203 million people are classified as poor, living on less than US$4.50 per day. This group of consumers is not the section of the economic pyramid that conventional banks and insurance companies tend to prioritize, despite their making up the majority of the archipelago’s population. This is a problem Aidil Zulkifli, co-founder and CEO of UangTeman, hopes to solve.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- Asia Pacific
-
100 Small Steps: Will India’s Bank Licenses Bring Reform?
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has been steadily reforming India’s financial sector, in addition to achieving notable monetary policy successes. A few weeks back, the RBI granted licenses to 11 payments banks and followed that with licenses to 10 smallfinance banks.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
-
Collectives Help Rural Women ‘Lean In’
In the world of microfinance, women’s collectives have acquired a great deal of prominence globally and are known by various names such as Self Help Groups (SHGs), Joint Liability Groups (JLG), or Village Saving and Loan Associations (VSLA). There is a strongly held belief that the formation of these groups has transformed the lives of women, improving their financial status due to the direct links between the microcredit, obtained through the group, and the livelihood activities financed by this credit.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- microfinance
-
Cellphones broaden business opportunities for Tanzanian women
What would happen if Tanzanian women who never before owned or could afford a cellphone suddenly received one?
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
Subscribe to Our Weekly Newsletter, "NextBillion Notes"
Published each Wednesday, our e-newsletter features NextBillion's latest original articles, along with a selection of news, jobs, bizdev opportunities and events from our recent coverage — and regular conference ticket giveaways.
We respect your privacy. Your information is safe and will never be shared.
Don't miss out. Subscribe today.