Paul is also like many who lost everything in the earthquake — not just her house, but also her merchandise.
But unlike many merchants, Paul has help. Because she had borrowed money from microfinance organization Fonkoze, not only will her initial loan be forgiven, but she is also receiving a small cash infusion to help in the short-term.
Small merchants like Paul, called ti machann, make up the backbone of an economy where 80 percent of commerce comes from self-employment.
Gary Gardner Tuesday, July 22nd 2008
The number of “microborrowers” worldwide increased by 17 percent in 2006, according to data from the Microcredit Summit Campaign, continuing double-digit annual growth that averaged some 29 percent annually between 2001 and 2006.1 (See Figure 1.) The global loan portfolio of the 340 microfinance institutions (MFIs) tracked by the Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) also grew rapidly in 2006, at some 34 percent.2 (See Table 1.) The galloping advance of microcredit is increasing pressure on many MFIs to become more sophisticated and commercially oriented in their operations—at the expense, some analysts fear, of their original mission of poverty reduction.3
http://vitalsigns.worldwatch.org/vs-trend/microfinance-surging
Grameen Foundation today announced an innovative, two-year initiative designed to help African microfinance institutions (MFIs) better target poor clients and track how they are moving out of poverty. The initiative, the first of its kind in Africa, is being facilitated by the PPI™ Users Collaborative in Africa (PUCA), a new, multi-stakeholder group that unites five charter partners—Oikocredit, Catholic Relief Services, Terrafina Microfinance, Planet Rating and Grameen Foundation—with the national microfinance networks APIM/Mali and APSFD Senegal.
http://www.grameenfoundation.org/press-releases/leading-microfinance-stakeholders-join-forces-enhance-poverty-assessment-and-tracking
ACCION(R) International, a pioneer and leader in global microfinance, announced today that Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has approved its application to establish ACCION Microfinanças, a new microfinance organization in the state of Amazonas in Brazil’s remote northern region. It was in Recife, Brazil that ACCION first pioneered the concept of microlending, in 1973.
http://www.csrwire.com/archive/our_pick/249
ACCION Launches New Microfinance Institution in Amazonas
ACCION(R) International, a pioneer and leader in global microfinance, announced today that Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has approved its application to establish ACCION Microfinanças, a new microfinance organization in the state of Amazonas in Brazil’s remote northern region. It was in Recife, Brazil that ACCION first pioneered the concept of microlending, in 1973.
WASHINGTON, Dec. 21 /CSRwire/ – The Microfinance Information Exchange, Inc. (MIX) announced the re-launch of MIX Market (www.mixmarket.org), the global platform for microfinance data, analytics and business information. The website was redesigned and the underlying database rebuilt to allow for the rapidly expanding network of microfinance institutions and their broader array of products, services and metrics. The new platform also provides increased functionality and tools for all users. Importantly, MIX Market now includes the availability of all content in English, Spanish, French and Russian, with Arabic content coming online in early 2010.
http://www.csrwire.com/press/press_release/28398-Leading-Website-on-Microfinance-Performance-Partners-with-The-MasterCard-Foundation-for-Re-Launch
ACCION International, a pioneer and leader in global microfinance, announced today that it has invested $500,000 for a 49.5 percent equity stake in Saija Finance Private Limited, a microfinance start-up that provides financial services to microentrepreneurs and low- and middle-income families in one of India’s most underserved regions…
http://www.csrwire.com/archive/our_pick/185
ACCION(R) International, a pioneer and leader in microfinance, today announced that it will serve as the official sponsor of a new conference examining the latest microfinance investment strategies.
‘Microfinance for Institutional Investors,’ scheduled for September 21-23 in Washington, D.C., will analyze next-generation microfinance investments for pension funds, family funds and private wealth managers. In addition to evaluating emerging opportunities in China, India, Bangladesh and the Middle East, the conference will also assess the latest venture capital, or ‘frontier,’ investment initiatives in industries supporting microfinance…
http://www.csrwire.com/press/press_release/27400-ACCION-to-Sponsor-Microfinance-for-Institutional-Investors-
There is near unanimous consensus that financial sustainability is a crucial gauge of the success of microfinance institutions (MFIs)—after all, an MFI that can cover its costs can also grow, serving more and more clients. Today, more than 400 sustainable institutions report to the Microfinance Information eXchange (MIX), a leading source for market data. The industry as a whole is growing fast, adding 13 percent more borrowers each year since 1999.
This growth is thanks in large part to the insistence on financial sustainability. But for most microfinance practitioners and funders, it is also important to reach poor and very poor people, to provide quality services, and most important to improve clients’ lives. In other words, both financial performance and performance in positively affecting people’s lives—social performance—matter. And the two aims are not necessarily at odds with one another. Thus, many funders and financial institutions are seeking more transparent ways to measure social performance in addition to measuring for financial performance.
This Focus Note highlights the emerging emphasis on social performance in
microfinance and reviews some of the assessment tools recently developed…
http://www.cgap.org/gm/document-1.9.2581/FocusNote_41.pdf
…As the years went by I invested more and more time and money into microcredit, and then four years ago, with my friend Ed Law, we founded a project of our own, Grameen de la Frontera, in Sonora, Mexico.
Very simply, microcredit is tiny self-employment business loans made to the world’s poorest people, especially to women. These business loans usually start at $50 or $100, and when the first loan has been fully paid, there is an opportunity to borrow more. The borrowers are required to invest the money immediately in an income-generating activity…
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20040718/news_mz1e18saunde.html
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