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	24 April, 2008 eBay Tests Its Online Prowess in Microfinance EBay Inc. says its approach to e-commerce, which has made it a power in Internet retail and online payments, can be just as successful in microlending.
	7 April, 2008 Commercial reality hits microfinance A new report asks whether commercial pressures will change the identity of the microfinance sector. David Lascelles looks at its findings.
	6 April, 2008 Niche lenders feel safe Even as the global credit crunch is forcing lenders to shut their doors, microfinance experts said their thriving niche likely will be insulated.
	17 March, 2008 Microfinance Area Feeling Credit Heat: Microfinance institutions expanding, but some are tweaking strategies due to stale CDO and CLO markets
	15 March, 2008 Investment boom in microfinance fuelled by socially responsible investors New CGAP Report charts rise in Foreign Investment.
	15 March, 2008 Watch Your Step: Banana Skins, 2008 Micro-tales of the Microfinance World.
	12 March, 2008 Funding a path out of poverty Elliot Wilson explores how investors can back ventures that lend to the world's poorest entrepreneurs
	11 March, 2008 Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) Report Reveals First Performance Figures on Microfinance Funds The Consultative Group to Assist the Poor, a microfinance industry body housed at the World Bank, reveals the first ever performance figures for microfinance investment funds.
	11 March, 2008 Market Movers Chart of the Day: Microfinance Fund Performance If you invest your money in microfinance funds, you're doing good. But are you doing well?
	11 March, 2008 Microfinance investors focus on safer markets Microfinance investors focus on safer markets
	27 February, 2008 Right Regulation Will Help Mobile Financial Services As mobile technology continues to spread across the globe enabling many to perform sundry tasks through the mobile phone, a recent study by Edgar Dunn has revealed that the convergence of mobile communications with financial services will help more than 1.4 billion people benefit from mobile financial services by 2015.
	26 February, 2008 Taking Microfinance to the Next Level The aim of outfits such as BlueOrchard to serve those below the poverty line is both a philanthropic and profitable endeavor
	24 January, 2008 Microfinance: Lending where a little can go a long way Credit where it is due: YouthWorks finds reliable customers among young Filipinos
	11 January, 2008 Microcapital Story: Study by Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) and Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) Reveals that Marketing Affects Savings Among Poor in Peru
	7 January, 2008 Microfinance Fever A lot of people are chasing returns in barefoot banking. Here's what you should know before you follow.
	20 December, 2007 The Changing Face Of Microfinance Funding Commercial interests are big on microfinance. But the public sector still has a role to play.
	13 November, 2007 Microfinance from Scratch in Afghanistan When the Taliban regime lost power in Afghanistan in 2002, it left a devastated country behind. With no functioning banking system, Afghanistan's entire economy was financed by informal moneylenders.
	9 November, 2007 Governments in microfinance: threat or opportunity? State intervention in microfinance could bring resources and services to millions of poor people and improve the industry's institutional framework -- or deliver a knockout punch to private MFIs
	21 October, 2007 The big business of small loans (PDF Version) Once the domain of charities and development lenders, microfinance is increasingly seen as fair game for the for-profit sector, including so-called socially responsible investors and firms whose main interest remains the bottom line.
	18 October, 2007 Afghanistan's Microfinance Industry: Off to Good Start, but Big Hurdles Remain Naseema, 36, fled to Kabul with her family in 1999 after the Taliban set fire to their village in northern Afghanistan. Like many residents of the mountainous country's northern regions, Naseema's family built a one-room shack in Kabul's mountains, where thousands of the city's poor live in illegal tenements.
	12 October, 2007 Technology aids microcredit loans The head of a World Bank affiliate says inexpensive new technologies such as cell phones and pre-paid calling cards are for the first time bringing microcredit loans within reach of the world's neediest people.
	12 October, 2007 Unserved by Banks, poor Kenyans now just use a cellphone With a click of a cellphone key, Bernard Otieno makes the transfer - sending funds instantly from his residence in a sprawling Nairobi slum to his wife, who holds down their rural family farm some 250 miles away.
	23 July, 2007 Tamweelcom launches educational grant programme, 'marketing gateway' Microfinance is in no way charity, rather it is a proven effective tool to assist low-income families move beyond hand-to-mouth survival and plan for the future.
	30 June, 2007 Group Working on Plan for Cell Phone Banking In developing nations, many people still do not have bank accounts -- but they do have cell phones.
	June, 2007 More than 2,5 billion people lack abank account Elizabeth Littlefield, CEO of CGAP, the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor, explains the variety and the role of the alternative financial services, which allow people to get access to regular banking services.
	June, 2007 Microfinance: Future Success Hinges on Technology New technologies offer a huge potential to promote the use of financial services. The effective use of technology allows to standardize processes and reduce the costs of operations.
	25 May, 2007 Radical Changes on the Horizon for Microfinance Microfinance is hot these days "because it works," according to Elizabeth Littlefield, CEO of the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor. "Its bootstrap capitalism appeals to the Left, the Right, students, bankers, and retirees," she said. "And it got even hotter after Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Bank won the Nobel Peace Prize."
	10 May, 2007 Rating opens door to altruistic microfinancing Morgan Stanley and Blue-Orchard are adding to attempts to make the international capital markets do good work for the less fortunate, with a new package of bonds backed by tiny loans to the poor.
	May, 2007 Dialling Africa Looking at the potential of mobile phones to take financial services to the continent's rural poor
	16 April, 2007 A microfinance path for commercial banks Microfinance has come a long way from its beginnings as a non-profit program designed to combat chronic poverty in developing countries.
	14 April, 2007 Anyone can lend a hand via Web Supporters say loans transform lives of poor
	5 April, 2007 Lending a hand. When Melecio Penafiel wanted to expand his tailoring shop in Guayaquil, Ecuador, last May, he didn't go to the bank or ask his relatives for help. His seed money arrived via the Internet.
	1 April, 2007 Message Received - Nigerian Banks Are Beginning To Realise That They Can Build Their Customer Bases And Raise Efficiency By Participating In Mobile Banking, Says Wendy Atkins
	31 March, 2007 More fizz than bang? China's first licensed microfinance lenders started off on an optimistic note, but sustainability and ability are key issues
	26 March, 2007 Microfinance funds, investors experience uptick Foreign-capital investment in microfinance reached an unprecedented cumulative $4 billion last year.
	22 March, 2007 AAGM: Global Initiative to Improve Remittances Services Launched US$10 million fund to finance innovative projects around the world, with support from European Commission, Luxembourg, IDB, CGAP and UNCDF has been launched.
	22 March, 2007 FMFB receives 'Financial Transparency Award' The award was presented by Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) ... an international agency, which facilitates development of microfinance sector.
	21 March, 2007 World Bank-Based CGAP Honors Pro Mujer for Excellence in Financial Transparency Pro Mujer, a leading microfinance and women's development network in Latin America, is pleased to announce that Pro Mujer Nicaragua has been awarded the 2006 Financial Transparency Award from the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP).
	14 February, 2007 UK plans 'financial inclusion' fund for developing world The UK plans to set up a 'financial inclusion' fund to help advise poor people in the developing world on how to use loans, savings and payment services and how to avoid unscrupulous providers.
	6 February, 2007 WB body plan to deliver banking services to poor The Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP), a 33-member, independent institution housed at the World Bank, will test cellphone banking, ATMs, card readers and other technologies in 40 developing countries, including Pakistan, to ensure the delivery of banking services to the poor.
	1 February, 2007 Mobiles Begin Calling Shots on Banking and Payments The Use of Mobile Phones for Banking and Payments is Growing Worldwide
	29 January, 2007 Push for High Tech Microfinance Part of a Development Trend Five years from now, millions of people in even remote regions of developing countries could be doing their banking with cell phones or other high tech devices.
	December, 2006 Microfinance Interview with Elizabeth Littlefield
	12 December, 2006 Can microfinance heal wounds of war? In this first article in a series on economic factors affecting Muslim-Western relations, Malika Anand and Samer Badawi, who work at CGAP, a global resource centre for microfinance, consider whether financial services have social implications for conflicting groups in war torn countries.
	23 November, 2006 Barclay's Africa plan is new, traditional Money collectors act as bank's connection with entrepreneurs
	17 November, 2006 World Bank says committed to microcredit despite Yunus criticism The World Bank is committed to microcredit, an official said Friday after Nobel Peace prize winner Muhammad Yunus attacked the lender for all but ignoring tiny loans for impoverished people.
	16 November, 2006 What's Next for Microfinance At the conclusion of the Global Microcredit Summit 2006 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Today interviewed Elizabeth Littlefield, Director of CGAP, the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor, on the future of microfinance and the Bank's role.
	13 November, 2006 China's First Microcredit Bank Just Around the Corner? A recent visit by Muhammad Yunus, recipient of 2006 Nobel Peace Prize and founder of the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, has renewed interest in the establishment of a micro-credit bank in China.
	18 October, 2006 Microloans mushroom, aided by banks, billionaires After starting out as just small loans for the poor, microfinance has mushroomed into a large market that is attracting big banks, technology billionaires, and last week brought its innovator the Nobel Peace Prize.
	16 October, 2006 What Will the Nobel Peace Prize Mean for Microfinance? Last week, the Nobel Peace Prize went to Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Bank, the microfinance institution he founded 30 years ago.
	14 October, 2006 Peace Prize to Pioneer of Loans to Poor No Bank Would Touch A Bangladeshi economist, Muhammad Yunus, and the bank he founded 30 years ago won the Nobel Peace Prize yesterday.
	14 October, 2006 'Microloan' Father Yunus Is Awarded Nobel Peace Prize Bank Spurred Global Movement Through Aid to Women, Poor; Major Insurers Following Suit
	13 October, 2006 Microcredit report Nobel Prize winner Muhammed Yunus' model for providing small loans to the poor is used in many countries and is widely praised for its positive affect on impoverished populations. Includes Link to Audio Interview with Elizabeth Littlefield
	13 October, 2006 Nobel Laureate's Work Gives Hope for U.N. Millennium Development Goals This year's Nobel Peace Prize winners, Muhammad Yunus and his Bangladesh bank, have lifted millions of people out of poverty with microfinancing.
	13 October, 2006 Interview with Elizabeth Littlefield World Business Today with Todd Benjamin, CNN International
	13 October, 2006 Microcredit: a tool for peace Microcredit has become an increasingly powerful tool to free the world's poorest people, particularly women, from the prison of poverty and the power of loan sharks.
	7 September, 2006 Tsunami Special Envoy's Office, donors explore microfinance option for longer-term recovery challenges Representatives of major international organizations, non-governmental agencies, donors and the Sri Lankan government met last week in Colombo to examine how microfinance can better contribute to ongoing tsunami recovery efforts.
	1 August, 2006 MicroFinanceBank awarded The subsidiary of the World Bank, Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) announced the 2006 transparency awards and The First MicroFinanceBank Limited (FMFB) was awarded the top winners award.
	20 July, 2006 The Big Promise of Small Loans A new crop of grant makers -- and investors -- is embracing microfinance to alleviate world poverty
	18 July, 2006 Note from the Field Supporting Innovations in Microfinance A Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) program helps microfinance institutions take risks, maintain flexibility, and develop innovative products and services to reach the poor
	15 June, 2006 Netherlands Guests Visit "XAC" Bank
	13 June, 2006 Morgan Bond Marshals Big Money for Microfinance
	8 June, 2006 Three Cambodian Microfinance Institutions have Won Awards for Financial Transparency
	6 June, 2006 K-Rep Bank Gets Award K-Rep Bank was has been awarded the Transparency Award by the World Bank's Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP).
	1 June, 2006 An IIF Report Predicts Growth For The CEE Region While CGAP Analysis Reveals The State Of Microfinance Today IIF Report: Substantial Growth Forecast for Central & Eastern Europe
	24 May, 2006 JCR to take up 3 microfinance rating tasks The JCR-VIS Credit Rating Company Limited will be undertaking its first three international assignments in the microfinance sector.
	18 May, 2006 Economy-Guinea: Micro-finance, with Macro Interest Rates
	2 May, 2006 Microfinance: Services the Poor Can Bank On With the help of philanthropists, banks, and others, these institutions help local economies by providing small loans and financial services
	26 April, 2006 Danamon banks on microcredit The president of Bank Danamon, Sebastian Paredes, is counting on Indonesia's 42 million self-employed workers, including the country's poorest people, to fuel loan growth.
	1 April, 2006 Americas: Mexico - Bankers Drag Their Feet On Microfinance Front Despite International Progress On Microfinancing Initiatives And Good Results In Mexico's Microcredit Industry, Mexican Banks Are Still Not Keen To Lend To The Poor
	31 March, 2006 Nonprofits pursue private investors Chasing capital
	1 March, 2006 Retail Banking: Imagination Widens Reach The Microfinance Sector Has Been Looking For Ways To Bypass The 'branch Infrastructure Problem' And Mobile Phones May Be The Answer To Reaching Rural Clients, Says Gautam Ivatury.
	March, 2006 How to regulate microfinance The booming business of micro-lending fits uneasily with current regulation. Timothy Lyman explains how regulators can adapt.
	25 January, 2006 Access for All: A Bold Vision for Microfinance New book lays out in plain language what CGAP and others in the development field have learned over the past 10 years about the true potential of microfinance and of integrating the world's poor into the financial mainstream.
	17 January, 2006 Be a global financier...on a shoestring Web site lets you loan as little as $25 to overseas entrepreneurs; eBay said to be in on it next.
	5 January, 2006 A New Way to Do Well by Doing Good Microfinance Funds Earn Returns on Tiny Loans To Poor Entrepreneurs Abroad
	24 December, 2005 Credit networks lure working class Wary of banks, Mexicans find cajas accessible
	14 December, 2005 Microcredit and disasters THE United Nations named 2005 the Year of Microcredit. In much of Asia, it was the Year of Disaster Relief. It began just after the devastating tsunami that killed hundreds of thousands and wrecked millions of livelihoods from Indonesia to Somalia...
	December 12, 2005 China-labor: Urban Workers Sent $30 Billion to Rural Homes - Study As the amounts of money migrant workers send home globally every year continue to grow, a new study estimates the volume of money transferred by migrants within China's borders to be bigger than any cross-border market in the world.
	November, 2005 Microfinanciers: Developing Paths to Self-Sufficiency A loan of $50 in the developing world can raise a family out of abject poverty, but servicing small loans can be costly. Alums are working to improve the business model for microfinance institutions so they can expand their reach.
	18 November, 2005 WB awards RP propoor reforms The World Bank-assisted Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) has cited the Philippines for implementing wide-ranging reforms that provide the poor greater access to credit.
	17 November, 2005 SBP governor stresses MFIs' promotion State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Governor Dr Ishrat Husain has advocated the promotion of micro-finance institutions (MFIs) to help poorest of the poor in the country He was talking to the participants after inaugurating a three-day workshop on "Micro-finance Regulation and Supervision" at the Institute of Bankers Pakistan here on Wednesday.
	14 November, 2005 Microfinance: Future Success Hinges on Technology Microfinance institutions (MFIs) have filled a gap between formal financial institutions, such as banks, and informal sources such as moneylenders and credit associations.
	7 November, 2005 A broader remit for microfinance The Middle East is enjoying an investment boom but risks leaving the poor further behind. Microfinance can help to improve their prospects but it will take more than loans alone. Rula Dababneh explains.
	6 November, 2005 Role of Micro Financing in poverty reduction & Tsunami Rebuilding Consultative Group to assist the Poor (CGAP) a global resource center for Micro Finance formed of a consortium of 28 public and private development agencies, after having carried out three Country Level Effectiveness and Accountability Reviews (CLEARS) in Cambodia, Nicaragua and Madagascar carried out a review in Sri Lanka in October.
	6 November, 2005 Micro finance a means to support people The key things that a government can do for microfinance are to maintain micro-economic stability, avoid interest-rate caps and refrain from distorting the market with unsustainable subsidised, and high delinquency loans programs,said Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) Microfinance Specialist Eric Duflos at a media conference on Country Level Effectiveness and Accountability Reviews (CLEAR) at the JAIC Hilton.
	October 2005 Development agencies tackle aid effectiveness Microfinance (the provision of financial services such as savings, credit, and insurance to the poor) is an area where good practices exist but where they are not systematically translated into actions by donors. Sri Lanka was selected by CGAP?s members as a relevant country to conduct such a review due to the large number of donors involved in microfinance (including INGOs), and the significant challenges of making aid effective after the tsunami.
	28 October 2005 Poor Credit International micro finance experts recommend that donors put the breaks on funding microfinance in Sri Lanka, as system unsustainable. "Given the plethora of organisations, many mushrooming more after the tsunami, we are telling donors to take a step back and reflect on what they are doing here," lead microfinance specialist Brigit Helms, from CGAP, told journalists on Friday.
	21 October 2005 Making Insurance work for the poor. Current Practices and Lessons learnt The microinsurance sector plays a key role in the fight against poverty. This is the core message in the final statement of the International Microinsurance Conference Making insurance work for the poor. Current practices and lessons learnt", staged by the Munich Re Foundation and the initiative CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor) at Hohenkammer from 18 to 20 October 2005.
	4 October 2005 Even poor Filipinos do save, says study A study conducted by Paris-based Consultative Group to Assist the Poor ( CGAP ) showed that savings capacity does exist among low-income Filipino families, dispelling widespread belief that poor Filipinos do not save.
	19 September 2005 Special Report: Micro Insurance - Spreading the word Post-tsunami, micro insurance has become a whole new potential market area for the industry but is it a model that can be replicated throughout the developing world?
	14 September 2005 Microfinance: Commercial banks take a fresh look Commercial banks take a fresh look - MICROFINANCE: One big reason for the conversion of sceptics is the advance of technology that obviates the need for branch networks and the advent of cheap point-of-sale machines, writes Alan Beattie.
	September 2005 United Nations Capital Development Fund In spite of significant funding and a fairly broad consensus on good practices in microfinance, donor programs on the ground continue to waste money, undermine markets, and fail to reach their objectives. To address this disconnect, CGAP paired up with former U.K. Secretary of State for Development Claire Short and other development ministers in 2002 to launch a unique aid effectiveness initiative using microfinance as a test case for other development sectors.
	August 2005, - World Bank Group Celebrating the Year of Microcredit The United Nations declared 2005 the International Year of Microcredit, and the World Bank and the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) have joined national committees around the world to highlight the importance of microfinance in the fight against poverty.

	04 July 2005 Microfinanciers overtake their commercial peers Microfinance has matured into one of the most successful and fastest-growing industries in the world. In Africa, its growth is probably second only to that of cell phone use. In Africa, the poor are proving to be reliable, stable customers who make microfinance institutions twice as profitable as commercial operations.
	July 2005, ADR - Asia-Pacific Development Review Microfinance - Macro Impact The increasingly commercial nature of microfinance is good news for the poor, but it also creates new challenges for both donors and MFIs
	23 June 2005, Business Recorder First MicroFinance Bank ratings reaffirmed FMBL has also been awarded 'Honourable Mention' in the CGAP 2004 Financial Transparency Award, sponsored by the World Bank- affiliated Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP). Further, the bank holds a '5 diamond' status (highest category) for its level of disclosures on the MIX (Marketing Information Exchange) Market website, an information portal of the World Bank.
	26 May 2005, The Jordan Times G-8 representatives to convene in Jordan Representatives from G-8 countries will meet with regional government officials next year in Jordan to follow up on political, economic and social reforms, according to a senior government official.
	22 May 2005, The Jordan Times Arab policy makers endorse regional principles for advancing microfinance - Jordan Policy makers from the Arab world on Saturday agreed on a common agenda for microfinance and endorsed a set of principles for advancing best practices for the sector in the region.
	19 May 2005, Jordan DevNet Queen to further media, women's initiatives at WEF As Jordan welcomes the World Economic Forum (WEF) at the Dead Sea, under the theme "Seizing the Moment," Her Majesty Queen Rania will seize the opportunity to connect with key opinion leaders from public, private and civil society institutions to increase momentum of key initiatives for women and youth in the Arab world.
	19 May 2005, Press Release by Foreign Ministry, The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan Queen to further media, women's initiatives at WEF As Jordan welcomes the World Economic Forum (WEF) at the Dead Sea, under the theme "Seizing the Moment," Her Majesty Queen Rania will seize the opportunity to connect with key opinion leaders from public, private and civil society institutions to increase momentum of key initiatives for women and youth in the Arab world.
	18 April 2005, Forbes Up From The Rubble; Can $2,000 loans help revive a war-torn economy? Entrepreneurs in Bosnia and Herzegovina are putting microfinance to the test. Can $2,000 loans help revive a war-torn economy? Entrepreneurs in Bosnia and Herzegovina are putting microfinance to the test.
	28 March 2005, Jakarta Post Microcredit programs are not always what the poor need The role of microfinance in the economy is gaining international recognition with the United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan officially declaring last November that 2005 is the International Year of Microcredit. In this regard, the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) -- a 28 donor-member body hosted by the World Bank -- presented a "pink booklet" titled Building Inclusive Financial Systems: Donor Guidelines on Good Practice in Microfinance to its members in Indonesia.
	6 March 2005, Business Recorder FMFB gets CGAP award, 5 Diamond Status The First MicroFinanceBank Ltd (FMFB) has been awarded the international 'Honorable Mention' 2004 Financial Transparency Award by Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP), a subsidiary of the World Bank. The FMFB is Pakistan's only microfinance institution (MFI), which has received the award introduced by CGAP in 2004. "More than 150 MFIs from more than 48 countries applied for the award, of these 110 met the entry criteria from all over the world", announced the CGAP.
	28 February 2005, Investment Dealers' Digest Helping the Poor Via the Capital Markets Economic development deals new Street sector? Wall Street could have a lucrative and socially-conscious source of new revenue, as two new development programs designed to help the world's poor are starting to access the capital markets, in a bid to expand their investor base from a small group of wealthy philanthropists to the broader world of the average investor.
	1 February 2005, The Banker Banks Can Reach Out to the Poor Banks are beginning to realize that financial services for poor people can be commercially viable. The Year of Microfinance is an opportunity for them to play a greater role in alleviating poverty. Microfinance Gains Momentum "There is a dawning understanding that developing countries' financial systems need to be more accessible to poor people and that there are practical ways to make this happen..."
	24 January 2005, UN News Service Microfinance is now more than microcredit in developing countries, World Bank says The financial system that started off decades ago as just small loans to the poor has expanded into such diverse small-scale services for its clients as providing credit cards, setting up saving programmes that identify illiterate clients by a fingerprint and having audited financial standards for microfinance institutions, a World Bank executive said.
	20 January 2005, The Times of Zambia/All Africa Global Media via COMTEX ZNCB Won't Close Branches Our vision is to concentrate on rural banking to increase services in outlying areas, assures bidder THE African International Financial Holdings, one of the parallel bidders for the 49 per cent equity in the Zambia National Commercial Bank (ZNCB) has assured that it has no intention of closing down any branches in the country.
	November 2004, Financial Engineering News The Loan Rangers Eye the Capital Markets Investments in microfinance can generate handsome, reliable returns for "patient money," says Martin Holtmann, a lead microfinance specialist at the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor, a consortium of 28 multilateral development agencies and foundations that's housed in the World Bank. "This is an important and pretty professional business, with great assets behind it," he adds.
	16 November 2004, Financial Times International Economy Elizabeth Littlefield, a former banker who runs the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor, a Washington-based consortium of 30 donor agencies, says the real challenge is not only to distribute more small loans but to overhaul entire financial systems. "This means making poor people central to the financial systems in poor countries," she says, "whether in making it easier with the help of new technology for urban workers to send remittances to family in the countryside or to build local financial intermediaries to harness savings."