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The ‘Start Small, Stay Small’ Dilemma: How Nonprofit/Private Partnerships Can Boost Women-Owned Businesses
Women-owned businesses tend to start small and stay small, in part due to challenges accessing credit. They're also more likely to be discouraged from applying for financing for fear of being declined. Gina Harman, CEO of Accion's U.S. Network, and Andrea Jung, CEO of Grameen America, explain how their organizations are serving these entrepreneurs – and highlight some important ways this work can be expanded.
- Categories
- Entrepreneurship
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Closing the Gap: Identifying Key Challenges for the Missing Middle SMEs in Francophone West Africa
Many small and medium-sized enterprises in developing countries fall into the “missing middle”: They're too big for microfinance and too small or risky for traditional finance. To better understand this sector and how to support it, the Dutch Good Growth Fund (DGGF) commissioned studies on the entrepreneurial ecosystems of Benin, Cote D’Ivoire, Guinea, Mali, Senegal and Togo. WDI's Ekta Jhaveri discusses the research with Julia Kho, knowledge manager at TripleJump, an investment management and advisory services firm that manages DGGF’s Investment Funds Local SMEs effort.
- Categories
- Entrepreneurship, Investing
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Getting Real About Innovation: Why Accion’s U.S. Network Made the Leap to Digitize its Lending Operations
Technology can boost small businesses' access to finance, but can also risk trapping them in a cycle of debt. And for lenders serving lower-income entrepreneurs, these risks and rewards are more acute. Gina Harman, CEO of Accion’s U.S. Network, discusses its ambitious efforts to digitize lending operations across its national online platform in this podcast Q&A, exploring how established organizations can adapt to emerging technologies – without compromising their missions.
- Categories
- Entrepreneurship, Inclusive Fintech
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Making Tech Work: How Local Know-How Can Improve Digital Financial Inclusion Solutions in Challenging Markets
Technology can eliminate inefficiencies, collect valuable information and expand access to critical services. But technological solutions often replace indigenous, ad-hoc approaches which – though they may appear incomplete and messy – reflect the knowledge and relationships of the parties involved. Asa Nyaga at BFA explores how Farmerline, a Ghana-based tech company serving smallholders, aligned the product design of a new app with the ideas and understandings of its target users.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Inclusive Fintech, Technology
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Why Fintech Startups Are Wooing India’s Small Businesses
Manjunatha BN runs a music store called Sri Sai Musicals in Bangalore. He needed a loan of $7,800 (5 lakh rupees). Unsure of getting one from a bank, he decided to approach Bangalore-based digital lender Capital Float. To his surprise, he received his loan in no time.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- financial technology, fintech, India, lending, microlending, MSMEs, SME finance, SMEs
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Do Credit Guarantee Schemes encourage banks to lend to SMEs?
A lack of access to adequate finance is one of the biggest constraints SMEs face worldwide. It is estimated that between 50% to 70% of SMEs in emerging markets are either not funded or under funded by the formal financial sector.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
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Crowdfunding the solution for SMEs in South Africa?
In 2015, the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (Saica) published the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Insights Report. The report provided meaningful insight into the depressed economic environment stifling SME growth and explored ways to improve opportunities for SMEs in South Africa.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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The Distributed Economy: Four Ways Blockchain Can Transform MSMEs in Emerging Markets
Micro, small and medium enterprises are the largest employers in many developing countries, but their growth is limited by a lack of access to savings, insurance, credit equity and payments services. Traditional companies aren't stepping up to solve the problem, but blockchain can help. Here are four ways this new type of data application can further MSME growth.
- Categories
- Entrepreneurship, Technology
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