(Photo from the UN Capital Development Fund)
Clearing out some of my links on microfinance stories here today.
*First, from the PSD Blog, a note on a story from the Wall Street Journal over the weekend on microfinance. PSD Blog takes particular note of Vikram Ajula who was recently named one of the 100 people shaping our world by Time Magazine.
*On May 17th, a major alternative energy forum will take place in New York City, put on by the Public Investment Network. The late afternoon panel will look at investment trends in the alternative energy space.
*Disruptive Thoughts with some thoughts on microfinance.
*There are a lot of examples of microloan institutions out there, so many in fact that I'm not sure there's really a good source keeping track of all of them. But here are just some examples for people to look at and compare, many of which are from the U.S.
Spring Singapore.
MicroBusiness USA out of South Florida.
The Philadelphia Commercial Development Corporation.
The Economic Development Corporation for Erie County.
The Baldwin Incubator.
The Southwest Minnesota Foundation.
African Bank Investments Limited.
…there are many more, but these are just an example of some of the institutions that are out there. If anyone has links to any databases on microfinance institutions, let me know.
In blogs covering microfinance, check out MicroCapital, Unitus Blog, Trust Flow, and Smart Mobs.
I too enjoyed the WSJ article on Vikram Akula of SKS microfinance. I met Vikram at the WRI BOP conference in San Francisco late 2004 and his ideas were just fantastic. Other good microfinance sites? You can’t forget the Mix Market – one of the best databases on MFI performance:
http://www.mixmarket.org/
Rob