Ross • 25th Oct 2009 • Living • africa, development, international development, kenya, kiva, loans, microfinance
Oh dear, it appears that Kiva has suffered another defaulting partner. This time, it’s Kenya’s Ebony Foundation that has stopped paying back loans – apparently using last year’s violence a a convenient reason to shirk its obligations. The organisation’s leaders are playing hide and seek. Unfortunately, this gives microfinance (and Kenya!) a bad name. I won’t be putting any more money into Kiva: this is not the first time a partner has failed to repay monies owed. This does not show Kiva’s due diligence in a good light. I would be much more understanding if it were loan recipients who were defaulting – but for a large partner to walk off with more than half a million dollars, well, as the saying goes, fool me once…
Ross • 19th Aug 2009 • Thinking • development, finance, international development, microfinance
…it is impossible to read this year’s text without coming to the conclusion that microfinance is at a crossroads, and that it might do the industry a power of good if it was able to call a “time-out” to reassess its role. In the popular press, microfinance is still very much the developmental flavour of the month – and even the most battle-hardened aid veteran has to acknowledge its appeal as an alternative to the conventional ‘top down’ model for wasting taxpayers’ money. But… microfinance currently faces serious challenges – challenges that have been exacerbated by the global crisis. Should microfinance institutions shift from their essential social role to a (perhaps) more sustainable profit-seeking model? Can they go on relying (as they have done) on subventions of one sort or another from Western investors? Should they develop into more or less full service financial institutions, and become part of the formal financial sector?
That’s from the CSFI‘s Microfinance Banana Skins 2009, available as a free PDF. My answers would be yes, no, more, and yes, respectively.
