Archive for the ‘Featured News’ Category

By Daniel Rozas and Vinod Kothari, Microfinance Focus , July 06, 2010 : The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recently promulgated proposed guidelines for securitization by non-banking finance companies that if implemented, would essentially gut the widespread Indian MFI practice of selling (assigning) and securitizing portions of their portfolios.  One of us has already described these consequences in detail.  Not surprisingly, this ... Full story

By Sanjay Sinha, Microfinance Focus, June 15, 2010 : Synopsis : International microfinance is at a critical juncture in 2010.  As a sub-sector of the financial services industry, microfinance has evolved from the slow moving tortoise of the 1990s to the nimble hare of the early “noughties” (2000-05) and, since then, into an overcharged bull growing at 70-100% per annum in some markets.  The purpose ... Full story

By Priyanka Jayashankar & Robert Goedegebuure, Microfinance Focus, June 15, 2010: The portico of a rustic household is abuzz with the chatter of women in the midst of a joint liability group meeting convened by ESAF in Perinjnanam, an idyllic village tucked away in Thrissur district. “I used to pawn my jewellery to keep my business afloat before availing of micro-loans,” recalled a bespectacled Laila. ... Full story

By Daniel Rozas, Microfinance Focus , June 07, 2010 : Savings is a hot topic in the microfinance policy circles these days.  The CGAP blog regularly features one or another posting on savings programs.  The influential blogger David Roodman recently recommended deemphasizing cross-border MFI debt funding in favor of support for savings services.   Meanwhile, the Gates Foundation has been channeling its millions towards expanding savings, ... Full story

By Malcolm Harper, Microfinance Focus , June 07, 2010 : Microfinance, like all fashions, generates a lot of writing. Some of it is not worth the paper or the screen space which it occupies, and much of it is unashamedly promotional;  Bateman’s new book is different, and much better. He has an axe to grind, and he sometimes grinds it too hard, but he ... Full story

By Vikash Kumar, Microfinance Focus, May 18, 2010 : Microfinance Focus took an Exclusive Interview with Her Royal Highness Princess Máxima of the Netherlands at the Africa-Middle East Regional Microcredit Summit 2010, which was held in Nairobi, Kenya on April 7-10. She spoke widely with us on her experiences and views on the Microcredit Summit, her previous work in microcredit, and the way forward for ... Full story

By Vikash Kumar & Daniel Rozas * Microfinance Focus , May 12, 2010 : SKS Microfinance, India’s biggest lender to the poor, is soon to become the nation’s first microfinance company to list on the Stock Exchange. In the past 10 years, it has evolved from an NGO to a public limited company and has set many benchmarks for the industry to follow. Microfinance Focus presents ... Full story

Editor’s Note: MISFA (Microfinance Investment Support Facility for Afghanistan) commissioned a study in 2009 to look at the agricultural market of Afghanistan and identify gaps and opportunities for microfinance and SME interventions and has published its findings in its bi-annual newsletter, Microfinance Times. The article presents excerpts from the newsletter. Microfinance Focus, ... Full story

Microfinance Focus, May 10, 2010: Babuben, a middle aged woman runs a small grocery shop in  South Bangalore, India. In spite of sitting in a microfinance hub and surrounded by neighbours who have found a way out of poverty with the help of microfinance, she still chooses to stay away from it. Babuben rather preferred ... Full story

Editorial Note: Microfinance Focus has recently started a series of field visits with an objective of bringing forward the unheard voices of microfinance beneficiaries and bottom-line stakeholders. It is an initiative to provide a forum to the borrowers, where they can voice their concerns and expectations from the industry. It will also provide an opportunity to microfinance practitioners and policy makers to better understand how ... Full story

By Peter van Dijk, Microfinance Focus , May 05, 2010 : As with many financial terms “Savings” and “Deposits” are often mixed and inappropriately used by all kinds of Microfinance practitioners; public authorities, donors, aid agencies, experts, MFI managers and even by financial authorities. In this article I want to explain why a correct ... Full story

By Vikash Kumar , Microfinance Focus, May 4, 2010: Microfinance Focus has taken exclusive interviews with Robert Annibale, Citi Foundation’s Global Director of Microfinance, and Pam Flaherty, Director of Citi Corporate Citizenship and CEO and President of the Citi Foundation who speaks extensively about Citi’s work and future strategies in microfinance and the role of donors. ... Full story

By Casey Conzett, Microfinance Focus, May 01, 2010, (Madrid, Spain): Dr. John Hatch, Founder of FINCA International and creator of the village banking model, while teaching class at the Master in Microcredits for Development program in Madrid, Spain takes some ... Full story

Microfinance Focus, April 27, 2010: Mr. Sam Daley-Harris, CEO of Microcredit Summit, shared frank and candid opinion on the issue of rapid commercialization in the microfinance sector in an exclusive interview with Microfinance Focus. Responding to the  question of whether rapid growth in microfinance has caused recent problems like multiple borrowing and mission drift, He ... Full story