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Viewpoint: Murmurs of a Fresh Crisis in India’s Microfinance Sector
The questions of microfinance, overlending and women’s suicides are cropping up all over again. The murmurs have been going on for a while, broadly indicating that the hotspots have shifted to eastern Uttar Pradesh and some other pockets.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- lending, microfinance
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Weekly Roundup: Acumen’s SolarAid Acquisition, Davos Deja Vu , the Grumpy Gates Critics
This week we explore Acumen's purchase of the SolarAide research arm, ruminate on the Davos script and do a little defending of the Gates Foundation.
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- Uncategorized
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Will Technical Illiteracy Mar Rwanda’s Ambitious Financial Inclusion Target?
As part of its goal to have 100 percent of adults formally financially included and to build a robust payments system that facilitates a cashless economy by 2020, Rwanda is targeting 80 percent financial inclusion by 2017 through the aid of the Financial Sector Development Programme II.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Social Business Incubator Villgro Completes First Round of Fundraising
Social business incubator Villgro has completed the first round of fundraising for its impact fund Menterra Venture Advisors that it has launched for making early-stage investments in healthcare, energy, agriculture, education and skilling startup companies.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
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Five Minutes With Entrepreneur Christine Souffrant, Founder And CEO, Vendedy
“Instead of creating another charity company or e-commerce websitewith static images of products that are only bought during [the] holidays,” Christine Souffrant was keen on thinking differently when creating her social enterprise, Vendedy. The founder and CEO says that the core motivation behind her startup, which connects street sellers with consumers, was to try and meet the challenge of creating a stable consumer base for those forced to turn to touristic, traffic-heavy streets to sell their wares in cities around the world that are rife with economic challenges.
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- Uncategorized
- Tags
- fintech, social enterprise
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Seven Wishes from Seven Thought Leaders for Financial Inclusion in 2016
2015 was an important year for the world of financial inclusion. To better understand and build on the year's successes, BRAC approached the Microfinance CEO Working Group to inquire about their wishes for financial inclusion over the coming year. Here’s what seven industry thought leaders shared with them.
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- Uncategorized
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Report: Nigerian President Planning to Offer Government Microloans to 1 Million Artisans, Market Women
More details are emerging about the social protection programmes of the Muhammadu Buhari presidency, including a scheme to grant soft loans to about one million artisans and market women in the proposed 2016 budget.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Kanpur Startup HelpUsGreen Wins Tata Social Enterprise Challenge 2015-16
Tata Social Enterprise Challenge 2015-16, a joint initiative of the Tata group and the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta (IIM-C), received 210 impact proposals from aspiring early-stage social entrepreneurs.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
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