Tag: microfinance
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Kiva Video
Keeping up my string of Kiva posts, I wanted to offer you some excellent videos about Kiva. First, there is this selection from YouTube called Mavericks of the Valley. Embedding is disabled, so you must click the link and watch the 4:44 video on YouTube. This vid gives a great overview of Kiva. The second…
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KIVA Gift Certificates for Christmas
Looking for a unique Christmas gift that keeps on giving? Kiva gift certificates are a great option. Kiva allows individuals to make loans to specific entrepreneurs starting or expanding businesses in the developing world. You don't receive any interest on your loans, and neither does KIVA (although the local microfinance operations charge interest to the…
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My First Kiva Loan Repaid
In April, I wrote a post about two businesses I lent money to through Kiva, an online microfinance business. One of those businesses has successfully paid back the loan. Here is the basic data: Mary Njeri NgangaNjeri Pig Project Partner: Women's Economic Empowerment Consort Partner Rep: Jedidah Waigwa, Martha Gitau Location: Gathiga, Kenya Activity: Rearing…
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Microfinance now successful way to combat poverty, says church ‘bank’
From the Presbyterian News Service: Microfinance now successful way to combat poverty, says church ‘bank’ GENEVA — Oikocredit, an international church-supported microfinance institution, has approved more than 100 million Euro ($125.6 million) worth of credits in the first 10 months of 2006, a record, it said, in reaching out to poor people often excluded by…
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Nobel Peace Prize goes to Bangladeshi economist Muhammad Yunus
From Asia News: Nobel Peace Prize goes to Bangladeshi economist Muhammad Yunus. Those of you who have followed my blog for any time are aware of my interest in micro-finance. My link to Kiva in the right blog column is just one organization involved in micro-finance. This article is about the founder of the micro-finance…
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KIVA in Business Week
A Little Money Goes A Long Way is an article about Kiva in Business Week Online. (Hat Tip: Dave Ayers) Friends and neighbors have been lending one another money forever, but as the Web makes virtual neighbors of strangers, Kiva, which is Swahili for "agreement" or "unity," is harnessing the power of social networking to…
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Is Microfinance Changing the World?
Is Microfinance Changing the World? Broadcast on KUOW in Seattle yesterday. (Note that Matt Flannery of Kiva is one of the guests.) Poor people in the developing world have limited access to basic financial services like credit and insurance that Americans take for granted. Microfinance promises to change all that, and in the process fight…
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Kiva Update
A few weeks ago, I wrote about two businesses I have financed through Kiva. One of the borrowers is Robert Ocora. Kiva is now linking a blog about Robert's efforts at Live in Africa.
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Kiva – Ending Global Poverty Person-to-Person
Almost twenty years ago, some classmates from Eastern University had the idea of connecting individual investors in the United States with individuals in developing nations who needed capital to start businesses. Investments as small as $100 would purchase the equipment and resources necessary (e.g., sewing machine, tools, seeds, etc.) to get an entrepreneur started. There…