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Serve Rural Areas or Lose License, Central Bank of Nepal Governor Tells Microfinance Institutions
Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) Governor Chiranjibi Nepal has warned that the central bank may scrap the license of microfinance institutions who fail to reach rural areas of the country.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
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Acumen Launches Acumen America to Tackle Poverty in the United States in Partnership with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Barclays and The Hitachi Foundation
Acumen, the nonprofit global venture fund, announced today the launch of Acumen America, a portfolio of American social enterprises focused on tackling poverty within the United States. Since its founding in 2001, Acumen has invested $101 million to build nearly 100 innovative enterprises addressing the problems of poverty in Africa, South Asia and Latin America. Now, after 15 years, the organization is bringing its impact investing model to the U.S. to help address the biggest issues facing the nearly 47 million people living in poverty. With the support of Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Barclays and The Hitachi Foundation, Acumen is building a portfolio of U.S. companies with a focus on health, workforce development and financial inclusion.
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- Uncategorized
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Aspen Institute Launches Intense Investigations Into Emerging Threats to the Financial Security of American Families
The Aspen Institute today launched an ambitious, first-of-its-kind project to shine light on economic forces that severely impact the financial security of American families. The Expanding Prosperity Impact Collaborative (EPIC) is an unparalleled effort to identify consumer finance issues that have widespread, mainstream import but are unexplored relative to their consequences for millions of Americans. EPIC will connect diverse, multi-sector teams of experts to deeply analyze the current state of knowledge on these vital issues and deliver a fresh framework upon which policymakers and industry leaders can build evidence-based solutions. EPIC will raise the profile of misunderstood and overlooked economic challenges and bring unconventional insights to thought leaders and decision-makers.
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- Uncategorized
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3 Ways Your Social Business Will Be Better Than a Charity
In The Business of Good, serial and social entrepreneur Jason Haber intertwines case studies and anecdotes that show how social entrepreneurship is creating jobs, growing the economy, and ultimately changing the world. In this edited excerpt, Haber explains three ways charities are failing donors -- three things your social business can do differently to really make an impact.
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- Uncategorized
- Tags
- philanthropy
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Viewpoint: It’s Time to Green Our Financial Deserts
Since 2010, more than 5,000 bank branches have closed in communities across the United States. Meanwhile, expensive alternative financial service providers like check cashers and payday lenders continued to proliferate at an alarming rate. Not surprisingly, these two trends have disproportionately impacted hard-working people of color, trapping roughly 9 million African-American families in a world where it costs more to have less.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Africa Looks to Its Entrepreneurs
With a majority of African nations diversifying from traditional sources of income, entrepreneurship is increasingly seen as a key to economic growth. So far, entrepreneurship has yielded huge returns for entrepreneurs, and according to experts, there lies great untapped potential to drive the African continent into its next phase of development.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Google to Ban Payday Loan Advertisements
Google announced Wednesday that it will ban all payday loan ads from its site, bowing to concerns by advocates who say the lending practice exploits the poor and vulnerable by offering them immediate cash that must be paid back under sky-high interest rates.
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- Uncategorized
- Tags
- lending
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Online Lenders Already in Turmoil Facing U.S. Call for Rules
Marketplace lenders need to be more transparent about their business practices and some should be subject to additional oversight from U.S. regulators, according to a Treasury Department study released as the industry grapples with market turmoil and a scandal involving one of its leading firms.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Tags
- lending, regulations
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