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Posted on September 2, 2010
The Economist: Power to the people…
Technology and development: A growing number of initiatives are promoting bottom-up ways to deliver energy to the world’s poor
Sep 2nd 2010
AROUND 1.5 billion people, or more than a fifth of the world’s population, have no access to electricity, and a billion more have only an unreliable and intermittent supply. Of the people without electricity, 85% live in rural areas or on the fringes of cities. Extending energy grids into these areas is expensive: the United Nations estimates that an average of $35 billion-40 billion a year needs to be invested until 2030 so everyone on the planet can cook, heat and light their premises, and have energy for productive uses such as schooling. On current trends, however, the number of “energy poor” people will barely budge, and 16% of the world’s population will still have no electricity by 2030, according to the International Energy Agency.
But why wait for top-down solutions? Providing energy in a bottom-up way instead has a lot to recommend it. There is no need to wait for politicians or utilities to act. The technology in question, from solar panels to low-energy light-emitting diodes (LEDs), is rapidly falling in price. Local, bottom-up systems may be more sustainable and produce fewer carbon emissions than centralised schemes. In the rich world, in fact, the trend is towards a more flexible system of distributed, sustainable power sources. The developing world has an opportunity to leapfrog the centralised model, just as it leapfrogged fixed-line telecoms and went straight to mobile phones.
IFC may invest in microfinance funding agency Ananya…
August 6, 2010
Bloomberg: Hedge Funds Gamble on Poor in `Simpsons’ Farce…
August 6, 2010
Washington Times: Micro-finance: Let’s get it going in U.S…
August 5, 2010
18 million Nigerians access microfinance sector…
August 3, 2010
New regulations seen hurting micro-insurance…
July 30, 2010
NY Times: With Squeeze on Credit, Microlending Blossoms…
July 30, 2010
Microfinance: For Community or for Gain?…
July 30, 2010
WSJ: SKS Microfinance IPO Fully Subscribed…
July 30, 2010
Portfolios.com: Not the Typical Charity Case…
July 26, 2010
MiFi Editorials
Recycle to Eradicate Poverty
The MiFi Report is excited to present you with a program that celebrates the last two Nobel Peace Prize concepts: environment and microfinance. Electronic waste like cell phones pollute the environment (up to 35,000 gallons of water per phone) and microfinance has been proven to be an effective poverty alleviation tool. In response to these issues and as a [...]
MiFi Editorials
2009: The Year that 2008 Catches Up to Microfinance?…
Source: http://www.mykro.org/2009-the-year-that-2008-catches-up-to-microfinance/2009/02/
Just about every week, someone will write a piece on microfinance and the effects the worldwide credit crisis will have on the sector. Most journalists and experts alike are optimistic that microfinance will weather the storm and could even be “the answer” to the international investment predicament we are slipping further and further into [...]
MiFi Editorials
FAQs on Microfinance
This interview was undertaken in Cape Town, South Africa between the co-founders of The MiFi Report.
Nick: Could you describe Microfinance in one sentence?
James: Microfinance is the practice of providing the financial tools that you and I take for granted every day, such as credit, savings, insurance, etc., to those affected by extreme poverty.
Nick: Can you describe the tools you referred to for providing [...]
MiFi Editorials
The MiFi Report Officially Launches! Aug. 21, 2008.
Welcome everyone to the world’s finest news site for everything microfinance. The MiFi Report was founded as the first microfinance information site directed toward both the casual reader and the MFI experts alike.
Enjoy the site, and feel free to send feedback straight to me, the editor, at admin@mifireport.com… constructive or not, feel free to fill [...]




