By Sam Mendelson, on November 16th, 2012% Laura Foose, from SPTF, says there is confusion within the industry about the plethora of social performance/RF initiatives. But in effect, the landscape is not murky: there is rather an emerging landscape of tools suited to the needs of all stakeholders.
In terms of organisations stating their committment, the Smart Campaign and MFT are well known. More recently, the GLobal Appeal launched in Paris recently. So endorsing these means that an organisation not only agrees with principles, but will take . . . → Read More: Responsible Finance – the emerging landscape for retail providers and investors
By Daniel Rozas, on November 15th, 2012% The notion of social entrepreneurship is very broad. However, one common element is to have respect for all parties in the value chain of the social enterprise.
We at the European Investment Fund have designed the Social Entrepreneurship Fund as a knowledge exchange platform, which brings together the European Investment Bank, the European Commission, and the private sector. The objective is to raise EUR 200-250 million to support social entrepreneurs on the continent.
The objective is to show that these . . . → Read More: Ulrich Grabenwarter, EIF: social enterprise must first meet social objectives before returning profits to investors
By Sam Mendelson, on November 15th, 2012% Jean Luc Perron of Grameen Credit Agricole says that there are thousands of potential social businesses, in developed as well as developing countries. Access to health, energy, education: in every field it is possible to envision a social business way to address an issue.
The first approach is to give people accesss to goods and services they dont have.
the next is to focus on ‘inclusive value chain’; so increased profits go back into the local communities.
So what types . . . → Read More: What can microfinance take from social business?
By Daniel Rozas, on November 15th, 2012% Grameen Shakti (Grameen Energy) — we now sell 1,000 solar home systems per day. We have now sold 1 million systems, which took us 16 years to do. And it’s growing. As the price of solar panels continues to come down, it becomes ever more competitive with other forms of energy.
This is a business, a social business. As a business it must operate sustainably and efficiently, but the problem it seeks to solve is is a social problem — . . . → Read More: Mohammed Yunus: social business to meet social needs
By Sam Mendelson, on November 15th, 2012% Yunus is not opposed to anybody making money; but there is a ‘green zone’: cost of fund +10-15%. This is one way to allow profit while maintaining social purpose of microfinance.
The other things that must be prioritised are focusing on the poorest people, on women, and on income-generating activities. And we must emphasise ‘ownership’ of microcredit programs. This is something that was emphasised at Grameen Bank from the start. Now the 8.5m borrowers at Grameen own their microcredit organisations.
. . . → Read More: Yunus at e-MFP EMW: social entrepreneurs and social business enterprises
By Daniel Rozas, on November 15th, 2012% Bob Annibale: it’s key to have strong client protection standards. The industry has moved substantially in this area and good work is being done, though it needs to continue.
Sanjay Sinha: the negative coverage has had significant fallout on the Indian microfinance sector, and not just in Andhra Pradesh. The situation will improve gradually and we all have to be patient.
Ousmane Thiongane: financial culture of the clients have to be streghtened and financial education is important. But at the . . . → Read More: Handling fallout from negative press
By Daniel Rozas, on November 15th, 2012% MFIs have promoted many products, but when you look at the numbers, one product takes the lion’s share — the plain vanilla loan, with increasing amounts at each cycle. This, regardless of the client’s needs. There is nothing wrong with plain vanilla loans, but they should be targeted at clients who simply cannot be reached otherwise, since their borrowing sizes are simply too small. There’s much more room to meet actual client needs than is currently being done.
Part of . . . → Read More: Sanjay Sinha: product diversification is key to meeting financial inclusion
By Sam Mendelson, on November 15th, 2012% So looking back on the crisis in India, how could crisis have been avoided and results improved, asks Sanjay Sinha from M-CRIL? From 2003-2010, there was almost 100% growth year-on-year. Growth at that rate works when you have 10,000 clients which goes to 20,000 clients, or 20,000 to 40,000. But once you get to a million clients and you need to double your operations in a single year, you need to be be going from 10,000 loan officers to 20,000. . . . → Read More: The causes and consequences of the Indian Bubble, according to Sanjay Sinha
By Daniel Rozas, on November 15th, 2012% There has been a concern among all of us that microfinance may not be delivering promised results. It’s become apparent that we sold microfinance completely the wrong way, myself included. In the late 90s and early 2000s, there was too much emphasis that microfinance was a panacea for poverty. By 2005, the dominant idea among the media and those outside the sector was that microfinance was going to change the world.
So what about microfinance and financial inclusion? According to . . . → Read More: Sanjay Sinha: the role of microfinance is financial inclusion
By Sam Mendelson, on November 15th, 2012% How do you segment, and who are the clients being served by MF? MF began with the very poor, but when we know a country is majority underbanked, we see huge markets to reach: rural/urban, men/women, traders, drivers, small business owners, state employees: more sophisticated segmentation of knowing the poor, especially the very poor, is a key tool for increasing inclusion.
By Sam Mendelson, on November 15th, 2012% We have seen significant growth into now deposit-taking institutions. OBviously in Bangladesh, but especially in Latin America. They have better understanding of segmentation, and are moving into different strata of the underbanked. So when we look at great successes like Peru, or Equity Bank which dominates in Kenya, we see how NGOs have evolved into mainstream commercial institutions which are great examples. And the focus has moved as well to how to serve farmers, making the fairtrade movement be validated, . . . → Read More: Annibale speaks on inclusion and segmentation at e-MFP plenary
By Daniel Rozas, on November 15th, 2012% I first came here five years ago, and am glad to see the continuity of interest in the sector. Back then, the number of MFIs reporting to MIX was just over 400. Now it’s over 1200. But the sector has also changed — we don’t only speak of microfinance, but of financial inclusion: banks, postal services, mobile operators, and others. The landscape has changed a lot. The growth continued — microfinance funds (MIVs) have grown from about $2 billion to . . . → Read More: Bob Annibale
By Daniel Rozas, on November 15th, 2012% Microfinance Week as a reflection of level of activity in microfinance sector: 2012 set record attendance, at nearly 450 people (Christoph Pausch).
By Sam Mendelson, on November 15th, 2012% 450 participants, 24 open sessions, 16 action groups – the e-MFP microfinance week has evolved to this, its 8th time. The highlight will be the european microfinance award, $100,000 award to an MFI on achievements in food security. The three finalists will be speaking at 4pm today, before tonight’s jury session and award ceremony. “Delivering Results” is the theme of the conference; serious questions are being asked of the sector to demonstrate that it is, actually, delivering results to the . . . → Read More: plenary sessions kicks off
By Microfinance Focus, on November 5th, 2012% Microfinance Focus, October 10, 2012: The European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP) recently released a tentative schedule for 2012′s European Microfinance Week, to be held on the 14-16th of November in Luxemborg. This year’s program includes speakers and sessions that loosely revolve around the conference’s theme, ‘combining strengths – delivering results.’
The first day of the conference will be entirely dedicated to Action Groups. According to the e-MFP website, “e-MFP Action Groups are the result of productive synergies between European microfinance actors, . . . → Read More: European Microfinance Week 2012: Program of Events
By Microfinance Focus, on November 5th, 2012% The European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP), a network of over 135 organizations and individuals active in the area of microfinance in Europe has announced the date of European Microfinance Week for the current year. . . . → Read More: European Microfinance Week to focus on combining strengths
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About Microfinance Focus Microfinance Focus (MF) is an online knowledge platform about microfinance and sustainable development. Our worldwide recognition has been driven by a great need for shared information regarding the industry. Much of this growth can be attributed to our commitment to help the industry excel by plugging the knowledge gap, via free access to news and information that will benefit microfinance institutions (MFIs) and their practitioners.
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