Introduction It seemed appropriate to take a closer look at the bank in the centre of the emerging “incident” in Peru’s beloved microfinance sector. In a later post I may do a comparison of MiBanco to other banks in the … Continue reading
I have received endless calls, emails and messages about my recent post, almost unexpectedly, so I feel obliged to keep my loyal readers up to date on the unfolding problems in Peru. I have therefore diligently prepared three new posts … Continue reading
I was surprised more fuss wasn’t made of Fitch’s October 2013 downgrade of Grupo ACP – the main shareholder of Peru’s flagship microfinance institution (MFI): MiBanco. “The downgrade [] is driven by ACP’s losses (mainly due to foreign exchange volatility … Continue reading
There’s a fascinating, if not slightly obscure conference coming up in Boston shortly. Ominously referred to as “Extreme Inclusion”, it is hosted by the Fletcher School, Tufts University. What intrigues me about this conference is two of the women speaking … Continue reading
Rather than pick a single theme, I thought I’d write a summary of the first month of 2013 in the embattled sector. Princess Maxima of Holland got a promotion from ambassador of microfinance to Queen of the Netherlands. Let’s hope … Continue reading
On September 28th the Dutch investigative TV show KRO-Reporter broadcast a documentary about the Dutch microfinance investment sector, based loosely around my book. Below I provide an English transcript of the entire documentary. This is not an official translation and … Continue reading
The embattled sector is doing what it can to salvage its image. An excellent example was yesterday’s entry on the Huffington Post blog by Kadita Tshibaka. Mr Tshibaka spent 33 years at Citibank, and in 2003 moved to Opportunity International, … Continue reading
NORAD, the Norwegian equivalent of DFID or USAID, recently announced that it has all but ceased microfinance activities. The Norwegian Microfinance Initiative (NMI) is the only remaining large microfinance investor, although it is partially funded from the Norwegian public purse … Continue reading
Philanthropedia has just published its list of the 11 most outstanding non-profit microfinance players. The mind boggles. Three feature in my book – prominently, and not too favourably. Grameen Foundation USA (GFUSA) was #2, Accion was #3 and Kiva was … Continue reading
Muhammad Yunus has faced yet more trials this week at the hands of a Bangladeshi government of questionable transparency. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has essentially taken over Grameen Bank, on what some have described as a “Black Day” for the … Continue reading
