Tag Archives: microcredit

Vijay Mahajan of BASIX on risks and results in microfinance

Posted on April 4, 2010 | Leave a comment

A good article that touches on some of the issues in my last post is a recent interview of Vijay Mahajan on the Credit Suisse website. In the interview Mr. Mahajan points out to some of the prerequisites for microfinance to pull people out of poverty. He also highlights the need to match investment growth in this sector to the available management capacity in order to avoid a bubble in the sector. Here are some extracts from his interview. Continue reading →

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Posted in BOP, bottom of the pyramid, India, micro-finance, microfinance, Social Business, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, social Innovation, sustainable development

Tagged BASIX, BOP, Credit Suisse, micro-finance, microcredit, microfinance, Social Business, social entrepreneurship, sustainable development, Vijay Mahajan

An Investors perspective of Microfinance

Posted on October 14, 2009 | Leave a comment

Panel Description for ForSE 2009

Over the past years, microfinance has grown increasingly prominent and found its way into the common vernacular. The focus in the past was on innovative new microfinance organizations and their unique models and successes. As microfinance has become increasingly mainstream, major investors have started to take positions in microfinance companies. In this panel, we will explore the investor’s perspective. What are the potential returns and social impacts that investors see in this segment? Do you need to give up market returns for social good? Is there an opportunity for the individual investor or is this for institutions only?

Panelists

Paresh Patel, CEO Sandstone Capital
Tryfan Evans, Director, Omidyar-Tufts Microfinance Fund
Deborah Drake, Vice President, Accion & Coordinator, Council of Microfinance Equity

Moderator

Iqbal Dhaliwal, Director of Policy, Jameel Poverty Action Lab

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Posted in Conference, micro-finance, microfinance, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, social Innovation

Tagged Babson college, Boston, Conference, ecosystem, Investment, investors, micro-finance, microcredit, microfinance, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, social entrepreneurship, social Innovation, Social Investment

A conversation on Microfinance

Posted on June 24, 2009 | Leave a comment

Couple of months ago we had the privilege to host Mr. N. Srinivasan in Boston. Mr. Srinivasan is the author of the ‘Microfinance in India: State of the Sector Report 2008’. He also capped off his 25 year career at National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) as Chief General Manager for his last 6 years.

Over an informal dinner with a number of interested locals, Mr. Srinivasan spoke extensively about the issues facing the current crop of Microfinance institutions (MFIs) in India. The recent focus on MFIs after Prof. Yunus got his Nobel Prize has increased the visibility for these institutions and has also accelerated the flow of funds to this sector creating almost another bubble. From Boston, Mr. Srinivasan went to the San Francisco/Silicon Valley area where he met with Bhalchander (Bala) Vishwanath, who is himself a budding online micro lending entrepreneur. Continue reading →

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Posted in Investment, Micro-enterprises, micro-finance, microfinance, Social Ecosystem, sustainable development

Tagged India, micro-finance, microcredit, microfinance, NABARD, savings, sustainable development, yunus

TIECON Social Enterprise Track Provides New Perspective

Posted on June 16, 2009 | Leave a comment

For the first time TIECON EAST – TiE Boston’s annual conference on entrepreneurship and innovation – had a dedicated track on Social Enterprise. The three panels in the track – ‘Healthcare Innovation in a Global Village’, ‘IT & Communications for the Developing World’ and ‘Feeding 9 Billion people’ – were all well attended and engaged the attentive audience with the incisive discussions. Here are some excerpts from an article I wrote for Lokvani about the sessions. Continue reading →

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Posted in Agricultural Development, Conference, environment, Food, Health, India, Information Technology, international development, Investment, Micro-enterprises, micro-finance, microfinance, mobile technology, Rural Development, Social Business, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, social Innovation, sustainability

Tagged Agricultural Development, Boston, Conference, Food Supply, Health, India, Information Technology, internet, micro-finance, microcredit, mobile technology, Rural Development, Social Business, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, Social Impact, sustainability, sustainable development, Sustainable ventures, TIECON

How to multiply your social impact 2X to 6X

Posted on June 9, 2009 | 1 comment

In 2005 Kiva launched a website that allowed individuals to provide small loans to needy entrepreneurs around the world. The money was directed through microfinance institutions (MFIs) to their customers. When the site launched it had only 7 businesses in Uganda. Then their story got picked up by the Daily Kos and donations started flooding their site. With all the subsequent publicity Kiva was unable to line up beneficiaries fast enough to keep up with the donations coming in and for a while had to put a hold on its site.

Fast forward to 2008, Bala Vishwanath, an alum of top Indian tech and management schools – IIT and IIM – saw an opportunity to unstick the Kiva bottleneck and to multiply the social impact of every dollar. He quit his job and worked to setup www.UnitedProsperity.org United Prosperity helps provide loan guarantees that enable poor entrepreneurs to borrow from Microfinance Institutions to build their enterprises in developing countries. Continue reading →

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Posted in bottom of the pyramid, India, international development, Micro-enterprises, micro-finance, microfinance, Philanthropy, Social Business, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, social Innovation, sustainable development