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Will Microfinance Institutions Ever Be an Asset Class on Wall Street?
Last Friday at the Chicago Microfinance Conference, a group of investors explored the issue of microfinance investments and capital markets in a session entitled “Microfinance and Wall Street: Will MFIs ever be an Asset Class?” The conversation revolved around two primary questions: has the perception of institutional investors changed with the financial crisis, and would MFIs Read more…
Tagged Accion, Creation Investments Social Ventures Fund, Education, Eric Meyer, IFMR Capital, LLC, Loans, Managment, MFI, Microfinance, Microfinance industry, Microfinance Information Exchange, Microplace, Opportunity International, OptINnow, Poverty, Savings, Students, Wall Street, Women's Opportunity Network, YAO, Young Ambassadors for Opportunity, Youth
Does Microfinance Break the Cycle of Poverty?
The story of microfinance has always been compelling in its simplicity: A poor entrepreneur receives a loan. The loan enables her to purchase equipment or goods. She is then able to sell or increase sales of homemade clothes or fresh fruit. The new or increased sales bring in more income which she uses to pay Read more…
Tagged Calvert Foundation, Chicago Microfinance Conference, FINCA, Loans, Mennonite Economic Development Associates, Microfinance, Mobile Banking, Opportunity International, OptINnow, Poverty, Savings, ShoreCap Exchange, Students, University of Chicago, Women, Women's Opportunity Network, Women's Philanthropy, WON
Bringing It All Home: The Challenges of Microfinance in the US
At the Chicago Microfinance Conference last Friday (at University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business), a panel of experts from four domestic microfinance organizations discussed the ongoing challenges of offering financial solutions to underserved individuals in the United States. The panel “Microfinance in the US: Where Are We Now and How Far Can We Go?” was moderated by Read more…
One Hen Takes Microfinance to School
On Tuesday, I got the chance to visit local elementary schools in Oak Park and River Forest, Ill., attending wonderful presentations by children’s author Katie Smith Milway. She wrote One Hen: How One Small Loan Made a Big Difference, a book about a Ghanaian boy named Kojo who receives a small loan to buy a Read more…
Tagged Africa, Children, Education, Entreprenuership, Ghana, Katie Smith Milway, Kojo, Kwabena Darko, Loans, Microfinance, One Hen, Opportunity International, OptINnow, Poverty, Savings, Students, Women's Opportunity Network, WON, Youth
An armchair tour of Tanzania at Opportunity’s Spring Conference
The following is a guest post by Ed Kashmarek Opportunity’s Spring Conference, hosted last weekend by the Board of Governors in Scottsdale, Ariz., included a breakout session on Tanzania. Attendees were immediately transported to the country by a giant image of majestic Mount Kilimanjaro towering over bright yellow giraffes, accompanied by the soulful, seductive sounds of Tanzanian music. Read more…
Tagged $2 a day, Banking, Board of Governors, Clients, Conference, Independence, Insurance, Liesel Pritzker, Loans, Mount Kilimanjaro, Poverty, spring 2010 microfinance conference, spring microfinance conference, Tanzania, Training, Trust Groups, Unity, Young Ambassadors for Opportunity
Young Ambassador Reporting from Tanzania
On Sunday, Feb. 21, I flew from Chicago, Ill., to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. After almost two days of travel, I stepped out of the Julius Nyerere International Airport into humid, 90 degree weather. I knew I was in Tanzania. Thankfully, my luggage arrived with me and I went on to the Opportunity Tanzania head office. Over Read more…
Opportunity LiveBlog: “I cannot make my payment”
Today conference attendees gathered into groups of 10, and each took on a new identity. They became Opportunity International loan recipients, each with a unique situation. In the middle of the Trust Group simulation, they discovered something challenging: one of the members, Edif, could not pay her loan. The president of each Trust Groups alerted Read more…
