Author Archives: microfinance

Skoll Forum 2009

Leave a reply

The 6th Skoll Forum, a gathering of leading social entrepreneurs took place in Oxford on March 25-27th. Prominent figures of the social, corporate, policy, academic area engaged for 3 days in discussions and debates to accelerate, innovate and scale solutions for the world most pressing issues. This year the mood was slightly less euphoric due to the current crisis but one could feel an even stronger and powerful level of energy in the air as social entrepreneurs are becoming even more important players, in Jeff Skoll words, they are likely to come out of this crisis not as survivors but as leaders. He pointed out that social entrepreneurs are masters in leveraging; in producing results with limited resources, they have the abilitiy to do more with less, in choosing which assets can be most efficiently used to meet the objectives, also they maximize resources by collaborating. He could not have expressed it better. Many sessions can be watched in videos and also many blogs are available of the event. This year there were 9 Skoll Awardees. I was especially delighted to see Jordan Kassalow of VisionSpring, formerly Scojo who we have covered in this journal and in my recent book being one of them.

Muhammad Yunus memoir “Banker to the Poor” to be made into a movie!

Leave a reply

This story came to our attention through microcapital.
According to the press release of Variety.com, “Banker to the Poor” the best selling book on microfinance and the autobiography of the Nobel Laurete Prof.Muhammad Yunus will be adapted into an English feature film. Marco Amenta, an Italian director and producer is planning to start shooting in 2010 the film in Bangladesh where Prof. Yunus founded Grameen Bank, the bank that provides small loans to poor women for income generating activities.

A visit to Barefoot College- Tilonia, India

Leave a reply

Barefoot College (registered as the Social Work and Research Center) was founded by Bunker Roy in 1971 in Tilonia, a small village 350km southwest of Dehli, India. The college follows the lifestyle of Ghandi and it is built by the poor, for the poor and managed by the poor. The college empowers the rural poor by assisting them to develop their capacities and skills so they can serve their own communities better which enhance their self confidence and self reliance. The college trains rural people who are illiterate or semiliterate to become barefoot educators, doctors, teachers, water engineers, solar engineers, architects, designers, hand pump mechanics and accountants to serve their communities while generating income. The college runs pre-schools and night schools that are taught by barefoot teachers. They have also been replicating its approach not only throughout India where 20 colleges have been established in 13 states but also around the world! Pictures of the visit.

Continue reading →

A great book to start 2009: Hot, Flat and Crowded by Thomas L. Friedman

Leave a reply

hot_flat_and_crowded.jpgHappy New Year!
Hot, Flat and Crowded-Why the world needs a green revolution-and how we can renew our global future- by Thomas L. Friedman is an extremely educational and simultaneously an entertaining and engaging book. He takes a provocative look at two of the most serious challenges we face today: global environmental crisis and America’s loss of focus and purpose since 9/11. He explains where we stand now, how these two challenges are linked and proposes how we can restore the world and revive America at the same time. Friedman explains in relatively simple language the crisis we face due to the convergence of global warming (HOT), the explosive growth of the middle-class and the leveling playing field thanks to technology (FLAT) and the rapidly increasing population-forecasted by the UN to grow from the current 6.7bn to 9.2bn in 2050- (CROWDED). He advocates that it will soon be too late to fix things unless there is a global effort to replace our inefficient energy practices with a strategy for clean energy, energy efficiency and conservation- i.e. Green Revolution. A timely contribution that raises the awareness on the critical environmental issues and the urgency to act. Highly recommended.

Impact of financial crisis on microfinance

Leave a reply

How is the financial crisis impacting microfinance institutions (MFIs) and their clients? What can the microfinance industry do? These were the questions addressed at the virtual conference hosted by CGAP between Nov 18-20. There were 600 MFI managers, central bankers, investors, and advisers from 34 countries and the150 entries submitted by these participants provided a vivid and powerful picture of what is going on. According to the summary sent out by Elizabeth Littlefield, Director and CEO of CGAP,

“The dominos of the crisis-credit crunch, inflation, currency dislocations and global recession- are hitting microfinance in very different ways, depending on location, funding structure, financial state and the economic health of their clients. While many places seem unaffected today, there is little doubt that there will be impact: integration of microfinance into the mainstream does have costs.”

Other salient points from the summary report were;
-deposit taking MFIs are well-insulated from the crisis
-immediate concern is how the global liquidity contraction will affect the cost & availabilty of funding to non-deposit taking MFIs
-institutional investors in microfinance are not seeing significant redemptions but they do expect fundraising to become more difficult in the coming months
-advice to MFIs included: increase reserves, cut back on growth and focus on portfolio quality, make sure loan officers are informed and attentive to client needs and communicate early and often with lenders and investors
-concerns about overreaction by policymakers
-amid the anxiety some optimism…as some markets had become overheated so slower growth, tighter credit more conservative policies, better products and even consolidation of weaker institutions may be beneficial in the long run
I logged in during the 3 day conference and one positive impression was how the industry of microfinance (the players) continue to be willing and passionate to share and give information for the improvement of the whole industry, an attitude that the mainstream should learn from microfinance.

SKS Microfinance raises $75 million from private investors in the fourth round

Leave a reply

SKS Microfinance based in Hyderabad has raised 366 crore or $75 million from private investors. This is the fourth round of fund raising and was lead by Sandstone Capital. SKS has been one of the fastest growing MFIs in the world. According to its CEO Vikram Akula the funds will be used to leverage access to commercial finance and to scale their outreach in the next two years (doubling the current 1400 branches and 12,000 employees). SKS has raised funds in the past through Unitus Equity Fund, Vinod Khosla, Ravi Reddy, Sequoia Capital, Odyssey Capital, and Silicon Valley Bank. SKS currently has 3.3million clients across India and it plans to reach 8 million by 2011.
source: VC Circle

Safia Minney and People Tree

Leave a reply

Last week while I was in Japan I picked up a book written by Safia Minney, a pioneer in fashionable and ecological fair trade. The book seems to be only available in Japanese but there is plenty of information on the web on Safia and People Tree, the fair trade company/brand she founded in 1995. People Tree (PT)works with more than 60 fashion and handicraft producers in 16 countries including India, Bangladesh, Peru and Kenya providing design and technical assistance based on traditional skills. PT sells their products through catalogue, internet, and also through 400 shops around Japan and 100 in Europe. Safia is an inpiring social entrepreneur that has been recognized by various organizations including the Schwab Foundation of Social Entrepreneurship where she was selected in 2004 as one of the world’s “Outstanding Social Entrepreneurs”. She has not only raised consumer awareness of poverty alleviation, ecology and fair trade but also has built a business of fashionable and ecological fair traded goods. PT’s sales have surpassed 7.5 mn USD for 2006. Another remarkable social business, a win-win example.
Her blog is highly recommended and there is also a YouTube clip where Safia’s presents People Tree in her own words, a presentation that she delivered in London in Sept 2008.

SoCap2008 -Social capital markets conference

Leave a reply

SoCap2008 , a conference designed to bring together the entrepreneurs who want to change the world and the capital that wants to make it happen took place this week Oct 13-15 in San Francisco. Unfortunately I could not attend this year but it is possible to follow some of the inspiring discussions through the many blogs available. Especially the team of nextbillion did a wonderful job covering the conference.

Hapinoy Stores: a promising microfranchise (microventure) from the Philippines

Leave a reply

Hapinoy envisions to become the largest chain store (franchise) of small convenience stores (known as sari sari stores or variety stores in the Philippines). Their aim is to empower microentrepreneurs and help them grow their business. There are roughly 700,000 sari-sari stores in the Philippines and the idea is to convert some of these stores into Hapinoy branded stores. The microentrepreneurs who join this franchise will have access to microfinance (business loans) as well as training for standarized operating systems. Another benefit would be the opportunity to increase sales through new businesses and services brought in by Hapinoy through partnerships. Hapinoy works closely with MFIs (CARD-MRI, TSKI, Kasagana-ka, LMPC) and also partners with manufacturers and service providers (Nestle, Unilever, Colgate-Palmolive, Smart Communications etc).
Hapinoy is the first venture by MicroVentures Inc, a social business enterprise founded by Philippine leaders from the social development sector and the business sector. MicroVentures seeks for positive change in the Philippines through empowering microentrepreneurs and pushing the social business enterprise agenda believing that making profit and creating positive change can go hand in hand.
Hapinoy is a promising venture that one should keep an eye on. I learned about Hapinoy as I met Markus Dietrich who will be working for Hapinoy as a consultant based in Manila for one year starting this October.

Citi and Ashoka’s Changemaker launch a global competition “Seeking Financial Solutions for All”

Leave a reply

Ashoka’s Changemakers and Citi have launched a competition titled ” Banking on Social Change- Seeking Financial Solutions for All” to invite entrepreneurs from around the world to find and create innovative projects that will enable everyone to have access to financial services. Entries are accepted until October 1st.
Ashoka is a leading innovator for social change as it finds, fosters and connects the world’s leading social entrepreneurs-men and women with system changing solutions for the world’s most urgent social problems. Changemakers, an initiative by Ashoka, has been building the first online “open source” community that co-creates and implements the best solutions for social problems through collaborative competitions. Changemakers hosts competitions on a wide spectrum of social problems where innovative solutions are desperately needed. The current competition was launched in mid-July and in the first 4 weeks 34 entries from 11 countries have been submitted. Anyone can view the entries, enter a discussion or nominate a project. If you would like to showcase your innovation, share your insights or simply learn about solutions go to Changemakers.