Posted on August 26, 2008 - by James

The Economic Times: Editorial by Philip Vassiliou of Legatum Capital…

In their efforts to alleviate poverty, the pioneers of modern microfinance made a remarkable discovery – the poor could serve as reliable borrowers - and developed this insight into a worldwide industry capable of leveraging the commercial capital markets to deliver financial services to millions of poor. As MFIs attempt to reach ever more of the world’s poor, the role of commercialisation is being widely debated. 

Critics of increasing commercialisation propose a hybrid alternative combining non-profit and for-profit models. Advocates of this approach call for MFIs to return profits back to the poor in the form of lower rates. The 2006 Nobel laureate Mohammad Yunus… [click here to read the rest of this article...]

 [click here to read the microcapital.org response to this article...]