Development Blogs.com

Microfinance has at times been labeled as one of the greater international development solutions of the 21st century.  The idea underlying it is quite simple - people in developing countries, stuck at the bottom of the economic ladder, can change their life and become self-sustained with loans as small as several hundred dollars.  On an aggregate country level, this generates growth by moving people out of extreme poverty.  Over the past few years, a number of microfinance banks and organizations have sprung up around the world, driven partly by the global attention generated by Muhammad Yunus and his Nobel Prize.  These institutions are becoming an alternative to big banks, unwilling or unable to give loans to “the little guy” who often lacks collateral. I myself have...