Tag Archives: Compartamos

Smart or Crafty?

Smart Campaign rarely speak in public. They lecture, but dislike questions. This is a rational response given their flawed certification model, which has just managed to praise one of the world’s most vilified institutions, Compartamos. Besides a few MIVs paying … Continue reading

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Trouble Brewing in Peru? MiBanco in Dire Straits

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

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Disguised Mediocrity – the quest for POSITIVE impact results at Compartamos

[This is a detailed review of an academic paper. For a summary of this blog-post, click here]. A recent paper has attracted attention, likely to garner support from microcredit supporters. Firstly, it was written by prestigious academics from well-known institutions … Continue reading

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Disguised Mediocrity – the quest for POSITIVE impact results at Compartamos (summary)

[For the full review of this paper, click here] An important recent paper written by distinguished academics examines the impact of loans upon a range of variables. The authors use a sophisticated Randomized Control Trial (RCT) methodology and data from … Continue reading

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Promotion, Dismissal, Nationalization and Defection: Microfinance January 2013

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

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End of Year Microfinance Sector Wrap-up

Another few million clients, new banks emerging daily, relentless spin without much evidence of poverty reduction: I thought I’d provide a light-hearted summary of what’s happened this year in the embattled microfinance sector. The best news is that the microfinance … Continue reading

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