The MicroBanking Bulletin Issue # 5: Focus on Reaching the Poor

Publication Date: Sep 2000
Published by: Calmeadow
Document Type: Other

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Increasing depth and outreach

This issue of the “Micro-Banking Bulletin” focuses on microfinance programs that reach poorer clients. The articles include:

• Reassessing the Financial Viability of Village Banking by Gary Woller, which examines the prejudice that village banking cannot be financially viable.
• A Business Model for going Down Market where Kathleen Stack and Didier Thys present the experience of “Freedom from Hunger” a non-governmental organization that supports programs that combine micro-credit with education. The article illustrates ways to break old paradigms to fulfil the dual objectives of outreach and sustainability.
• The Commentary section that presents an interview with CASHPOR’s David Gibbons, who discusses its evolution.

The magazine includes four case studies:

• Geetha Nagarajan presents the case studies of two Asian microfinance institutions (MFIs);
• In Their Own Words presents case studies of:
  • FINCA Uganda, by Mike McCord;
  • Pro Mujer, in Bolivia, by Nancy Natilson.

The Bulletin highlights are:

• Analysis of the characteristics of financially sustainable MFIs;
• Introduction to the concept of longitudinal analysis – how the performance of MFIs changes over time.