"Financial Inclusion is not satisfactory" was a flashing headline in some prominent pink  papers last week. This is  a genuine concern  which gets echoed in many  public policy  and business platforms quite often. An important question which  emanates from this    concern is : What makes things work in India ? What makes them scale up and happen      satisfactorily as

The “mommy wars” have erupted once again, and Americans are asking a familiar question: “Can women really ‘have it all’?” Through my work with the largest network of microfinance lending in the Middle East, I’ve met a handful of women who are living the answer.

Last month, the headlines of the world’s papers read déjà vu.  “Suicides in India linked to microfinance debt.”  “SKS Microfinance implicated in farmer suicides.”  The headlines may have differed, but the article was one and the same, penned by

Images of microfinance lifting people out of poverty now compete with ones of the poor driven by debt to suicide. Where does the truth lie? David Roodman investigates in Due Diligence.

Last November 17th, for the closure ceremony of the Global Microcredit Summit in Valladollid, Nobel Prize Muhammad Yunus advanced his speech to arrive on time for the next day conference on Social Economy and Social Business held by the European Comission.

I had the opportunity to attend different sessions on Social Businesses with Professor Yunus, one of them being more intimate and out

Current sentiment around commercial financial inclusion (microfinance, business correspondents or anything to do with banking the poor) is at historic rock bottom. Government has over the past 2-3 years systemically tightened control, ordered closure of several channels i.e. removal of gold loans from PSL, banning chit funds, ordering a shutdown of retail deposit accep

Despite all the current sometimes emotional debates on the lack of evidence on its impact and on a possible crisis, Micro-Finance (MF) has undergone a tremendous evolution in intellectual and practical terms. In practical terms Micro-Finance has evolved into a diverse multi-billion dollar industry.

The RBI released on 27th September the much awaited revised draft of the securitisation guidelines. The first draft was proposed long time back in April 2010.

In this article I would not like to demonstrate the impact of MF with data or with an academic explanation. I thought it useful to look at the question from the perspective of what a democracy is and what its citizens may expect from their government.

Some time ago, I had a conversation with a microfinance investor.  What is the greatest challenge facing the sector? – I asked.  His answer:  multiple borrowing – multiple borrowing that was getting people into too much debt; multiple borrowing that was transforming micro-enterprise lending into consumer finance; multiple borrowing that was rewriting the traditional relationship between MF

Syndicate content

Microfinance Focus


Copyright @ Microfinance Focus. All rights are reserved. Managed by Ekayana Media