Serving the Poorest Sustainably: An Interview with David Gibbons
Calmeadow
Journal: MicroBanking Bulletin, (5): 13-16
Publication Date: Sep 2000
Published by: Calmeadow
Document Type: Journal Article
What are the challenges facing microfinance institutions in Asia in their efforts to create sustainable institutions?
This interview reports that the most important challenge facing MFIs in Asia is developing a financing strategy that allows for optimum growth of outreach to the poor. It also highlights a crucial need to create an appropriate regulatory environment in Asia, which will allow for the commercialisation of microfinance. The interview explores some of the unique features of working with poverty focused programs in Asia:- The fact that the poor tend to work as agricultural labourers;
- The general resistance of policy makers to allow MFIs to charge 'high enough' interest rates
- the regulatory barriers to savings mobilization, and access to funding that would allow more programs to scale up.
Specifically, the paper investigates the workings of network's evolution of CASHPOR over the past five years. Says the two main activities of CASHPOR are- Provision of management training, surprise audits and technical assistance to its members and
- Establishing Grameen Bank(GB)-type start-ups in places where they are very much needed and nobody has come forth locally.
It further says that CASHPOR shares the same vision as the Grameen Bank, and like GB it deals exclusively with poor households but it tends to give more emphasis to attaining and maintaining financial sustainability. Also, the interview looks at the factors that have contributed to the success of best CASHPOR members and attributes it to - Capable, honest, and visionary leadership;
- High priority for increasing their institutional capacity and keenness to adopt promising new microfinance management tools.
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