Microfinance, Innovations, Sustainable Development - Poor

World Concern: Reaching 153,000 AIDS orphans

Gerard — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 17:59:45 GMT

While it's sometimes hard to quantify success, one thing is certain – the ripple effect and long-term effects of good development work impact more people for generations to come than any of us will know.

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Afganistan: Microfinance faces hurdles in empowering women

Gerard — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 08:42:42 GMT

More than 1.5mn loans worth $831mn have been given out in the past seven years, said the Microfinance Investment Support Facility for Afghanistan (MISFA), which was set up by the government in 2003 to coordinate the sector. Thirty years of conflict have shattered Afghanistan’s economy and infrastructure, leaving two-thirds of the roughly 30mn population illiterate and at least a third in dire poverty.

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India's Poor Reel Under Microfinance Debt Burden

Gerard — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 08:19:30 GMT

One of the most popular programs for helping the world's poor has gone sour in India. Microcredit, the practice of making small loans to very poor people, grew into a multibillion-dollar business. But microfinance companies have been accused of predatory lending and collection practices so harsh that they drove some borrowers to suicide. One state government in India has enacted legislation that will, in effect, put the microlenders out of business.

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Good News Bank Story? Global Sustainable Banking Network Expands

Gerard — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 08:11:31 GMT

The Global Alliance for Banking on Values, a network of the world's leading sustainable banks, announces four new members today from South America, North America, and Europe. The banks join nine founding banks committed to building a better financial future in challenging times.

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International Financial Corporation (IFC) to Provide Assistance to Crisis Hit Microfinance Sector

Gerard — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 19:54:41 GMT

In an attempt to revive the crisis struck Microfinance sector, the International Financial Corporation, IFC a private sector arm of the World Bank Group is exploring avenues to facilitate fund flows to MFIs. This is an important development in the wake of the industry suffering continuous setbacks.

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Shanti Microfinance Launches $772K MFI Fund

Gerard — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 02:24:36 GMT

Shanti Microfinance, a not-for-profit organization, is raising a $772,000 (£500,000) fund backed by UK and Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and venture capitalists. The firm has already disbursed £10k (USD) and plans to start its operations in Gujarat before moving to Mumbai next year.

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Wokai: Contributing to Microfinance in China

Gerard — Sat, 25 Dec 2010 21:47:07 GMT

Wokai is an organization that allows people to contribute directly to microfinance institutions in China, which in turn lend the money to entrepreneurs in rural China. It is a non-profit organization based in Oakland, with core operations in Beijing, supported by individual donors, corporate sponsors, fundraising events and grants.

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Opinions: How Microfinance Lost its Soul

Gerard — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 16:46:20 GMT

Microfinance has lost its soul. Six fundamental shifts in the practice of microfinance have left it operating more like a for-profit bank and less like an innovative pro-poor movement.

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Ireland: Number of children living in poverty up

Gerard — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 17:01:10 GMT

The numbers of children experiencing consistent poverty increased last year for the first time since 2006, according to the State of the Nation’s Children report

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Opinion: The Myths Behind Microfinance

Gerard — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 16:40:31 GMT

Debate over the value of microfinance in the developing world appears to be long overdue. Arguments against microfinance center around the claim that it is a development strategy increasingly forced on the poor, and that those who are claimed to benefit from it the most--poor women--are actually its chief victims. Critics have long sought a platform to reveal the weaknesses and explode the myths supporting microfinance.

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Analysis: Microfinance and financial inclusion

Gerard — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 00:51:59 GMT

Microfinance has come under attack in south Asia. Politicians have lined up to attack the industry – whose practitioners make small loans, generally to impecunious rural borrowers – as a racket that preys on poor people. Microfinance brings a crucial service to poor people. Rather than being attacked, it should be helped to do an even better job of assisting them to assert their financial autonomy.

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Nearly half of elderly in U.S. will face poverty

Gerard — Sat, 18 Dec 2010 16:56:19 GMT

64.6% of black Americans and 32.7% whites will face poverty, study says

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Muhammad Yunus: Microfinance Guru under Pressure

Gerard — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 20:29:39 GMT

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus is under pressure after critics accused him of misusing development aid. The father of microfinance told SPIEGEL ONLINE the allegations are "a total fabrication."

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World Bank chief to launch carbon market fund

Gerard — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 20:55:04 GMT

World Bank President Robert Zoellick is set to launch a new multi-million dollar fund in Mexico on Wednesday to help emerging market countries set up their own carbon markets, the bank said on Tuesday.

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New Evaluation Finds Microfinance Operations Have Had Difficulty in Reaching the Very Poor

Gerard — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 20:18:46 GMT

A meta-evaluation on microfinance released by the Evaluation Cooperation Group of international financial institutions reports that microfinance operations have had difficulty in reaching the very poor.

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Zambia: Gender and Rural Finance workshop at Lusaka

Gerard — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 21:57:14 GMT

The grant funded a one day workshop in Lusaka to look at gender issues in rural microfinance programmes. 43 people participated in the workshop, including managers and gender specialists from government ministries, financial institutions, community based organizations and NGOs, donors and colleges. There was also participation from IFAD and FAO.

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ADB to improve dengue, disease monitoring in three Mekong countries

Gerard — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 23:04:53 GMT

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is extending $49 million to expand surveillance response systems to help control dengue outbreaks, and prevent the spread of communicable and tropical diseases in Cambodia, Lao PDR, and Viet Nam. The Second Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Regional Communicable Diseases Control Project, which is an offshoot of the first GMS Regional Communicable Diseases Control Project, will also target improvements in the capacity of health services and communities involved in disease control in border districts of the three countries.

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Opportunity International Encourages Citizen Diplomacy and Economic Empowerment

Gerard — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 22:17:24 GMT

Claudia Kennedy, Member of Opportunity's Board of Advisors and First Woman U.S. Army Lieutenant General, Encourages Individuals to Recognize Their Power to Improve People's Lives Around the World.

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Microfinance India: Is Capping Interest Rates the Only Solution?

Gerard — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 03:39:54 GMT

Capping microfinance interest rates will hurt the poor. There are better ways to regulate the industry.

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China: Postal Savings Bank's Microfinance

Gerard — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 03:53:51 GMT

Rural credit is changing the face of the Chinese countryside. The need for financing in rural areas is growing, but capital is still flowing out of the rural market. The Postal Savings Bank of China has provided us with a case to consider when pondering how rural microfinance can provide a sustainable business model.

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Opportunity International: Giving the Poor a Working Chance

Gerard — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 16:49:10 GMT

Opportunity co-founder and former president of Bristol Myers International Corporation, the late Al Whittaker, encountered poverty as he travelled throughout the world in the 1960’s and 70’s. He asked the people he met: “What do you need?” They replied: "Work. With jobs, we will solve our own problems."

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Innovating solutions to extreme poverty

Gerard — Sat, 30 Oct 2010 22:02:02 GMT

US$2.3 trillion has been spent by the global North on international aid in the last five decades. Nevertheless, close to half of the world's population still lives in poverty. One in five live in extreme poverty. Aid is not working as well as it should. Unless we can inject the spirit of innovation into this provision, the extreme poor we try to help in places like Bangladesh will continue to remain poor.

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Microfinance warns of collapse over credit freeze

Gerard — Sat, 30 Oct 2010 18:32:40 GMT

India’s microfinance industry has warned it is being pushed to the brink of collapse, as a result of a bank freeze on credit to microlenders triggered by a political crackdown. India’s commercial banks, which normally provide about $133m a week in credit to the microloan industry, have frozen those disbursals for the past two weeks, as companies wrestle with a backlash in one of their biggest markets, the state of Andhra Pradesh.

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CGAP: Mobile Banking is Reaching Millions of Economically Excluded in Poor Countries

Gerard — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 17:17:10 GMT

A significant number of people using new technologies such as mobile phones to access financial services in developing countries are completely new clients for the financial services industry, according to new research by CGAP. The growing interest of so-called branchless banking in recent years has, until now, largely lacked data showing whether it delivers on potential to bring the poor into the formal economy.

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African Development Bank Supports African Women Entrepreneurs

Gerard — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 15:18:59 GMT

Women entrepreneurs constitute one of the key drivers of Africa's sustainable growth. As Africa's lead development partner, the African Development Bankactively supports women entrepreneurs.

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While the current attacks on microfinance are unwarranted, overblown claims about it also need to be tempered

Gerard — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 18:46:26 GMT

Microfinance has had a quick slide down the popularity charts— from being celebrated as a magic wand against poverty to being condemned as a business riddled with loan sharks.

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Suicides spark scrutiny of Indian microfinance

Gerard — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 14:52:21 GMT

A group of India's largest microfinance institutions filed a lawsuit Tuesday to block strict new regulations laid down by the state of Andhra Pradesh — a crucial market for small loans — after reports that high interest and coercive loan collection by microfinance groups had led to some 30 suicides.

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South India: Samasta Microfinance

Gerard — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 08:46:10 GMT

Samasta Microfinance is a public limited, for profit Non Banking Financial Company, established in March 2008. We offer microfinance solutions to the urban and rural poor in South India, and currently operate in the states of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Their aim is to drive social change and be a catalyst for entrepreneurial ambition by providing a host of financial and non-financial products to our members. Their loan products are geared towards income generation supplemented by loans for education and social commitments. Samasta's operations use the Joint Liability Group (JLG) model.

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Village Earth : Sustainable Village Based Development

Gerard — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 07:39:48 GMT

Village Earth's mission is to help reconnect communities to the resources that promote human well-being by enhancing social and political empowerment, community self-reliance and self-determination.

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Asian Microfinance Forum 2010 concludes with success

Gerard — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 09:25:41 GMT

The three-day Asian Microfinance Forum 2010 wrapped up bringing to a close three full days of conferences, panel sessions and seminars all of which were well attended by almost 500 delegates from 50 countries who were in Colombo for the event as well as many local industrialists, bankers and other interested parties.

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Leading private financial institution established in Lao PDR

Gerard — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 21:37:00 GMT

Newton Microfinance Institution is the leading private financial institution in Lao PDR. Their vision is to make sure that every Lao resident not only has access to but also benefits from the financial blessings globally enjoyed. They are installing Internet banking services to their clients in several languages including Lao, English, french, etc.

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Philippines world's second best in microfinance

Gerard — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 02:32:58 GMT

Philippines has been ranked second best worldwide in the microfinance business, and the leader in the Asia Pacific region. Based on a study conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), the business information arm of The Economist Group that publishes The Economist, the Philippines outperformed Bolivia slipping to third overall.

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The Asia Social Entrepreneurs of the Year

Gerard — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 21:51:47 GMT

Three Social Entrepreneurs have been recognized as leading social innovators in Asia during the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting of the New Champions 2010, Tianjin, People’s Republic of China, 13-15 September.

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MFIs should remember to aid the poor along the way

Gerard — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 05:05:21 GMT

Confirmation that Cambodia’s largest micro-lending organisation Prasac will start to accept deposits represents the latest sign the Kingdom’s microfinance sector is booming. But MFIs need to be weary of straying too far from their original mandate – notably, to financially assist the country’s rural poor.

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IFC's Annual Africa Investment Hits Record US$2.4bn

Gerard — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 19:03:13 GMT

The International Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, has announced a record investment volume in Sub-Saharan Africa for its 2010 fiscal year, underscoring its commitment to the region's private sector development, especially to supporting growth in the lowest income countries and those affected by conflict including Liberia.

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Confessions of a Micro-Financier

Gerard — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 19:20:54 GMT

Microfinance doesn’t help the very poor. While the argument that all the attention the microlending industry attracts sometimes diverts funds from reaching programs that need it more is not new, we were surprised to see it outlined by Vikram Akula, the founder of SKS Microfinance Ltd.

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Few Sub-Saharan Africans Aware of Local Microfinance Options

Gerard — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 18:40:55 GMT

Residents in sub-Saharan African countries report a wide range of awareness about the availability of microfinance lending in their communities, suggesting these institutions remain locally inaccessible to many who would benefit most from using them. Malawians (65%) and Ugandans (63%) are the most likely to say they are aware of these institutions in their communities, while respondents from Ivory Coast (18%), Democratic Republic of the Congo (16%), and Zimbabwe (15%) are the least likely to say the same.

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Decoding microfinance

Gerard — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 21:27:49 GMT

He would have been a hardcore banker had he not branched out to microfinance. And that was because “it is a business with a social mission offering double bottom line satisfaction to all stakeholders”. Udaia Kumar, MD Share Microfin Limited Interviewed by Pranab Ghosh, Hindustan Times.

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Tourism contributes to the Millennium Development Goals

Gerard — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 20:24:04 GMT

With only five years left until the target date for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the United Nations has launched the MDG Report 2010 calling for accelerated progress to reach the 2015 deadline. As the UN Specialized Agency for Tourism, UNWTO is firmly committed to fostering the tourism sector’s contribution to development.

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G8 + G20: 'Poverty in Uganda is the never ending story'

Gerard — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 12:18:16 GMT

As world leaders gather for the G8 summit in Canada, Machrine Birungi visits Francis Kamara at his farm in Uganda to see if the promises made at Gleneagles in 2005 have benefitted him and his country.

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CGAP elects Indian as Executive Committee Chairman

Gerard — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 17:41:39 GMT

The global micro finance body set up by World Bank has elected India's Vijay Mahajan as Chairman of its Executive Committee.

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IFC Partners eTranzact on MobileMoney Project

Gerard — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 18:00:28 GMT

As part of efforts to bridge the gap between the banked and the unbanked population of Nigeria, eTranzact in conjunction with International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, have embarked on a pilot project for the rural areas in Nigeria called Rural Telephony Project (RTP) MobileMoney.

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How illiterate women became entrepreneurs

Gerard — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 18:53:04 GMT

This is an extraordinary story of women's empowerment in rural India. Women in Satara district in Maharashtra run a bank and a B-school successfully.

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Janta Provides Microfinance Loans for India’s Kids

Gerard — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 18:44:03 GMT

Sunny Mahant had been working as a product marketing manager for nine years at Cisco when he experienced an epiphany on a trip to India. On that trip, Mahant and his wife, photographer Geidre Nakutyte, witnessed firsthand the brutish conditions under which very young children work in India, and the extreme poverty suffered by their families. He came home determined to make a difference in the lives of young Indians.

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Lawyer starts Bad Girl Ventures

Gerard — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 18:36:29 GMT

A 29-year-old lawyer is kicking off a new microfinance organization Tuesday that will help others as she herself was helped.

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Banking on Change Launched in Ghana

Gerard — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 18:39:49 GMT

Barclays and international development organisations CARE International (CARE) and Plan have launched Banking on Change in Ghana, a unique and pioneering microfinance initiative aimed at reaching half a million people in ten countries across the world and sixty three thousand people in Ghana.

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Funding the future of social enterprise

Gerard — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 03:17:39 GMT

Ten years ago, it was not fashionable for social enterprises to take loans. Even if they wanted to, nobody would lend them money... Many small social investment firms have emerged recently.

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Great female IT role models: Sheetal Mehta

Gerard — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:22:40 GMT

Sheetal Mehta is founder of Shanti Microfinance, which is a social enterprise charity that provides access to technology and capital for entrepreneurs in slums and villages in Gujarat, India.

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Boost for Mobile Banking for the Unbanked

Gerard — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:10:16 GMT

CGAP, an independent microfinance center based at the World Bank, today announced a new partnership with the UK Department for International Development (DFID) to expand ongoing global efforts to use information and communication technologies (ICT), especially mobile phones, to increase access to basic financial services for the poor. In addition to a 2006 grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and CGAP funding, DFID will provide GBP 8 million to the CGAP Technology Program.

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Microinsurance industry sees profits from the poor

Gerard — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 23:04:59 GMT

Slum-dweller Krustin bin Juri lost everything when floodwaters swept through his home and shop on the banks of Jakarta’s filthy Ciliwung river two years ago. But when the next flood hits, and it will because Jakarta sees frequent floods in the rainy season, bin Juri may have a modicum of protection thanks to a low-cost insurance policy that he purchased this month. He is among millions of the world’s poor who are covered for natural disasters by cheap insurance, or microinsurance, as commercial firms recognise that insuring the poor is not just good public relations but also profitable.

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