Microfinance needs Greater Communication with Press

Microfinance Focus, June 23, 2010: In the concluding session of day one at MCCM conference, attention was drawn towards the relevance of press for the microfinance industry. WSJ’s Paul Beckett spoke, “Reputational risk is massive under representative factor. If it goes wrong, regulators over react, politicians over react and you’ll be in a tough spot” he said. For mitigating these risks, he added, “You should know who are dealing with you; you should know the top five journalists who are covering microfinance. However many business plans are floating there, you need to communicate it to people”.

Monica Brand of ACCION supported Mr. Paul’s opinion saying, “Microfinance have not yet considered the press as the significant facilitator of the industry’s image”. “Some of the negative press that has been received does demonstrate the limitations of the model. Other than that there are many small MFIs that are innovating to bring the best products to their clients” she added.

“Sometimes journalists sensationalize exploitation, but neglect that the beneficiaries of microfinance have been positively and undeniably impacted by microfinance, and this doesn’t get enough attention”, highlighted Mr. Ashish Lakhanpal of Kismet Capital.

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