News Archive - Page 335 of 366

Recent Developments, <br /> Key Innovations, and <br /> Insightful Reports

Recent Developments,
Key Innovations, and
Insightful Reports

Your One Stop Platform for Regular Sector Updates

Sector news

Rebuilding a stronger microfinance sector in India

This Q&A session with Vijay Mahajan, the president of the Microfinance Institutions Network of India and also the founder and chairman of the Basix social enterprise group talks about the implications of the new bill and the way ahead for the microfinance sector – a sector in which people have […]

August 6, 2012

Prof Yunus – Disaster hit Japan could use microfinance

Nobel prize winner Muhammad Yunus said Thursday that microfinance could help disaster-struck Japan rebuild, even though the concept he pioneered is usually associated with poor and developing nations. He said this in respect to people losing their jobs, and thus requiring micro-loans to start self-employment projects. Read more here.

August 6, 2012

Nigeria: Making microinsurance work

Faced with rising operational and claim costs, insurance operators and professionals in the country have started exploring ways of bringing down their costs to shore up the profitability of insurance business. Micro-insurance has now gained ground across the African market in recent times, but in Nigeria where the need strongly […]

August 6, 2012

Microfinance helping the poor is a misnomer

In a study conducted between two villages in Karnataka, India, it was found that people who took out microfinance loans were people with lower incomes than those who didn’t take the loans. This is a widespread phenomenon, because the only way microfinance can work, is to ensure that profits from […]

August 6, 2012

Uganda: Microfinance sector seeks solution to high interest rates

At the three day conference organized by the finance ministry and AMFIU (Association of Microfinance Institutions), the issue of high interest rates charged by MFIs was brought up. According to David Baguma, the head of AMFIU, interest of 2 per cent to 3 per cent per month is on the […]

August 6, 2012

India: Delhi government starts allotment of 14,000 low-cost flats

Delhi Government recently started allotment of around 14,000 low-cost flats to slum dwellers in keeping with its plan to make the national capital slum-free. Read more here.

August 6, 2012

South Africa: R 18 million rural housing project handed over in Limpopo

According to Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale, the provision of bulk infrastructure remains one of the major challenges in delivering houses in rural areas. He spoke at the handover occasion of 49 houses at Mantheding Village outside Polokwane in Limpopo. Read more here and here.

August 6, 2012

Shelter-Afrique finances Kenya’s low cost housing market with $500,000

Nairobi- based Pan African Housing Finance Institution, Shelter-Afrique, has extended $500,000 loan to a Kenyan housing microfinance institution, Makao Mashinani, in a pilot project geared towards raising the market supply of affordable houses for low income earners. Read more here.

August 6, 2012

India: The US$700 house

Tata Group, the Indian conglomerate that unveiled the Nano, billed as the world’s cheapest car, two years ago, has a new gift for India’s masses – the US$700 home. It can be thought of as a ready to assemble home, just like ready to assemble furniture. Upgrade options include a […]