Rotating savings and credit associations (RoSCAs) are, next to moneylenders, the most prevalent type of informal finance around the world. In 1988, Seibel & Shrestha traced the evolution of the dhikuti, as RoSCAs are called in Nepal, and published the results under the title Dhikuti: The Small...

During the past, the evaluation of the chances of economic transformation and development of Eastern Europe was largely shaped by the view on the modernization and organizational restructuring of large enterprises/combines. Various scholars were sceptical how far these could contribute to a...

Social capital is a valuable resource that can be raised and destroyed, and its level in society is path dependent and related to society's collective memory of experience with power structures. Social capital is found both on the network as well as society levels, and a relation between these...

There are two outstanding aspects to Nabard’s Linking Banks and Self-Help Groups: with an outreach to 500,000 SHGs and a population of 40m rural poor, it is the largest non-directed microsavings & microcredit program in the developing world; and its bank lending rates – fluctuating at market...

Jabal al-Hoss is one of the poorest areas in Syria where UNDP has supported the establishment of self-reliant local financial institutions, sanduq (sg.) lit. savings box: a novel concept in centralized banking system. The sanadiq (pl.) are self-managed and autonomous in their decision-making,...

In many countries, Grameen replication has not fared well in terms of outreach and sustainability. There is no country where the Grameen Bank, reaching two million poor women in groups of five and centers of 30 in Bangladesh, has been truly replicated. In The Philippines, rural banks and...

Cet article présente un exemple de commercialisation de la microfinance aux Philippines, sous l’égide d’un projet de reproduction de l’approche « Grameen Bank ». Selon l’idée initiale du projet, de modestes prêts devaient être fournis aux foyers les plus pauvres par des ONG et des...

Centenary RDB is a commercial bank that provides deposit, credit and money transfer services indiscriminately to men and women of lower income. By insisting on loan recovery and cost coverage, it has reached more men and women in rural areas than any other institution in Uganda. With minimum...

This Conference brings together the financial experience of rural and agricultural microfinance institutions and the experience of the Common Fund and other agencies with promoting commodities and small and micro-entrepreneurs producing, processing and marketing commodities. We expect that this...

Microfinance is not a recent development, and neither is the development of regulation and supervision of microfinance institutions (MFIs). Every now developed country has its own history of microfinance. It is important to recognize this because it presents a view different from that of many in...