An estimated 1.28 million clients around the world use Sharia-compliant microfinance services, a four-fold increase since 2006, according to a Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) study released Wednesday April 3rd.  Nearly a third of all institutions reported the launch of their Islamic microfinance operations in the last five years, and the number of providers offering these products has doubled since 2006.  Ninety-two percent of Sharia-compliant loans are concentrated … Read More >>

“Relief International (RI), an international relief and development agency with cross-sectoral programs bridging relief and development, currently seeks a Microfinance & Program Development Intern Position Summary: Under the supervision of the Program Development Director, assist in the process of institutionalizing RI’s microfinance programming, contributes to the development of the RI response in Haiti, as well as departmental research and proposal development requirements. ESSENTIAL RESPONSIBILITIES AND DUTIES: -Develop reporting system and … Read More >>

Here’s a presentation from mftransparency.org making the argument that we need transparent pricing in microfinance (I agree) that I stumbled on while exploring the mftransparency.org website today. Why We Need Transparent Pricing In Microfinance View more presentations from MicroFinance Transparency. What are your thoughts? Are there any arguments to be made to discourage transparent pricing?

Frustrated by MFIs with loose credit policies? Fed up with regulators bent on imposing interest rate caps?  Finally, MFI managers and stakeholders can take some constructive action. On June 14th, Beth Porter, founder of Women Advancing Microfinance spoke to the Silicon Valley Microfinance Network (SVMN) about the Smart Campaign. The Smart Campaign is a global effort within the microfinance industry to bring transparency to the pricing of microloans.  The general … Read More >>