Download the Latest Issue ( March 2010) of Microfinance Focus Read More

WHAT IS WATERCREDIT? WaterCredit is an innovative initiative of Water.org that puts microfinance tools to use in the water and sanitation (watsan) sector. It is the first comprehensive program of its kind in the world that connects the microfinance and watsan communities to scale up access to credit and capital for individual- and household-based watsan needs and does so with multiple models across multiple countries. In ... Read More

By Rishabh Jain , Nilutpal Pegu for Microfinance Focus In the past few years, Indian microfinance has seen unprecedented growth. As per the Bharat Microfinance Report 2008, published by Sa-Dhan, the MFI channel served about 141lakh clients with a portfolio outstanding of about Rs 5954 crores by 2007-08. The growth over the preceding financial year has been 53 per cent and 72 per cent for ... Read More

By , Jyoti Prasad Mukhopadhyay, Associate Centre for Micro Finance Research The whirring sounds from Pashupati‟s paddy-husking mill drown out the cricket chirps and children‟s laughter from the surrounding fields. Pashupati strolls through his mill, brusquely greeting employees, and proudly points out the new rollers he‟s installed recently. In addition to the husking mill, Pashupati‟s “micro” enterprises include a recently constructed 18-foot high brick kiln as ... Read More

By Daniel Rozas In June 2006, FOCCAS, a once promising Ugandan MFI with an unusually committed client base, became insolvent and was closed.  Its socially responsible (SR) creditors recovered nothing on their outstanding loans. In April 2007, WEEC, an up-and-coming Kenyan MFI lost its founder/director to an unexpected death, and defaulted on its debt soon after.  Its SR creditors recovered nothing. In September 2008, Washington Mutual, one of ... Read More

By Dr. Souren Ghosal It has been well established that future of micro financing institutions lies in its capability to generate inclusive economic growth to fulfill the social and economic objective and the alleviation of poverty from the society. It is obvious therefore that to achieve this objective it would be imperative for these institutions to conceive a model to outreach poor both in urban and ... Read More

Henry Ford may have been a terrible human being, but he was a marketing visionary.  When he realized the production potential of the automobile, he also quickly realized that capacity might readily outstrip demand.  There were simply not enough consumers who could afford a private automobile to keep the new industry growing at the rate he hoped for.   So he came up with a unique ... Read More

Dr. Sourendra Nath Ghosal , Head (Knowledge Management) , Microfinance Focus Micro financing institutions have emerged as a successful delivery model to garner savings of poor of course in a limited manner and to fund rural and urban poor to pursue any economic activities to enable them to earn their livelihood. It has been reported to have an average annual growth of 30% and have covered ... Read More

Mainly by its focus on three core values to further its mission of poverty eradication. The core values are: customers come first, always keep ethics in mind, and maintain consistent quality. The first core value is to operate in a financially transparent way to provide good customer service. SKS has practised its commitment providing its customers financial transparency, financial literacy and treating them well. It ... Read More

By Peter Burgess, Bureau Chief-New York There are different views about how MFI performance should be measured. Some believe that financial performance is a good proxy for socio-economic performance. Others believe that performance should relate mainly to a poverty alleviation focus and impact on the poorest of the poor. While the microfinance sector has grown rapidly over the past decade and reaches now more than ... Read More