The Microcredit Crunch?
Microfinance institutions have lent billions to poor people. Now the global credit crunch has made loans more expensive. But has it affected microfinance?
Microfinance institutions have lent billions to poor people. Now the global credit crunch has made loans more expensive. But has it affected microfinance?
The lack of financial education is a major obstacle to insurance coverage for poor people. Can puppets do the trick?
Microinsurance provides poor people with coverage for only a few dollars a year. Jean-Jacques Laffont from Allianz AGF in Paris explains why a commercial insurer is interested in low-profit business in Egypt.
With the expansion of microfinance, criticism is mounting that loans for poor people without financial education can become a debt trap. How real is the threat?
Insurance in conformity with Islamic law has existed for hundreds of years. Now its comeback could help Southeast Asia better deal with natural disasters and catastrophes.