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> Posted by Chris Wolff, Senior Director of Corporate Partnerships, Accion
Many people who, like me, have crossed into the social sector from a for-profit background, want to see nonprofits take advantage of business principles to generate ever better outcomes. Continuous improvement is one such tool.
To oversimplify, continuous improvement involves capturing crucial performance data in ongoing feedback loops so staff can make enhancements to better serve customers. This process is best known in manufacturing, but the principle has been applied broadly. In service industries, where products are not purchased, cycles of market research and satisfaction tracking can still shape how companies iterate in delivering benefits to customers. Read the rest of this entry »
> Posted by Chris Wolff, Senior Director of Corporate Partnerships & Major Gifts, ACCION International
I love misbehavior.
Don’t get me wrong. I grew up one of the most compliant kids you’d know, and I’m no advocate for breaking rules. But I’ve come to appreciate how much can be learned by paying close attention to “misbehavior.”
Of course, I wish nobody spent the proceeds of microfinance loans to buy cigarettes or alcohol, but as we are often reminded by writers on financial behavior, money is fungible. Microfinance fosters agency building, so we need to honor the rights of different people to choose to spend money on what they deem valuable.
But should providers assist clients by providing options that they can “misuse”?
My view is that service providers should not only respect, but also listen to those choices. When outsiders disregard choices we deem “bad,” or merely tolerate as someone’s right, then we miss opportunities to discern how needs might really be assisted through financial intermediation (or in any way). I’d be worse off if companies just derided American obesity and missed business opportunities to make gyms more appealing or create new product lines like Coke Zero or Pepsi Max to satisfy my sweet tooth. By better understanding good and “bad” choices, providers can offer more meaningful help. Read the rest of this entry »
> Posted by Danielle Donza
Four days after taking on David Roodman in DC, Dr. Milford Bateman travelled north where the Boston Microfinance Club invited him to debate Dr. Guy Stuart, an independent consultant and Senior Advisor at Microfinance Opportunities. The point that resonated most with me was this question: Maybe consumer goods aren’t such a bad thing.
Milford made the argument that many microfinance loans are being used for consumption, say a TV, which immediately made me cringe. Consumption often has a bad name as an unproductive use of funds.
But then Guy jumped in and unpacked consumption for us. Yes, there is consumption in the form of alcohol, cigarettes and gambling, and we can all agree that is not a desirable use of microfinance loans. Yet, Guy, who has done countless financial diaries with microfinance clients, points out that money is fungible. So, if a client uses some of loan to buy a consumer good, such as a TV, and uses some of the loan to improve her business, as long as she is able to pay off the loan with interest, then who’s to say consumption is such a bad thing? That TV has now provided the client with 1. A source of information/education, 2. Status in the community, 3. An asset, and 4. Improved quality of life. Read the rest of this entry »
> Posted by Anita Gardeva
Participants in the 2009 HBS-ACCION Course on Strategic Leadership in Microfinance
It’s an exciting yet demanding time for microfinance leaders. As the industry matures, leaders have to make clear-headed decisions to steer their institution in the right direction.
The Harvard Business School (HBS) and ACCION are working together to make those decisions easier. The HBS-ACCION Program on Strategic Leadership for Microfinance connects microfinance executives with some of the world’s most experienced professors in leadership and strategy for social enterprises.
As this executive education program enters its seventh year, we’re happy to announce that the application process for 2012 is open. The 2012 program is scheduled to take place April 9th-14th at the Harvard Business School campus in Boston.
In the past six years, the HBS-ACCION Program has been attended by over 100 executives from some of the world’s most prominent MFIs, including the Grameen Bank, SKS, MiBanco, BRI, Compartamos, and Equity Bank. Read the rest of this entry »
> Posted by Center Staff
The key message of the Center’s recently released “Opportunities and Obstacles to Financial Inclusion” report is – to revise Bill Clinton’s campaign slogan – “It’s the client, stupid.” The hundreds of industry leaders surveyed for the report conveyed a clear message that we must grasp client needs.
But taking the “know your client” mission to a level of greater detail, how much do we really know about clients, real and potential, in rural areas?
More to the point, are we able to understand the financial behavior of rural inhabitants in such detail that we’re able to compare it from country to country? Can we appreciate their use of the media, how they socialize, where they see their future? Are we in tune with how consumption patterns mesh with the harvest season?
To help answer some of these fundamental questions, this fall we will release a monograph on the financial behavior of the rural inhabitants of Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, Dominican Republic and Nicaragua. Read the rest of this entry »
> Posted by Center Staff
What makes a great loan officer?
ACCION International Ambassador Wei Wei Pan tackles this topic in a recent post on the Ambassadors blog, while wrapping up a visit to Chifeng, China and the ACCION Microcredit Company.
Previously, we pointed our readers to insights from Ambassadors Pamela Chang, David Firth Bard, Stephen Matthew Lee, Jason Loughnane, and Leah Vinton. They are among the team of Ambassadors charging around the world, soaking up knowledge “on the ground” in places as far-flung as Paraguay and Tanzania. You can subscribe directly to the Ambassadors’ blog to get a feed of their news.
“Thoughts on Chifeng ACCION Microcredit Company,” which was posted August 10, begins:
During my stay in Chifeng, China over the last two weeks, I have closely observed the work of ACCION Microcredit Company’s (AMC) loan officers and I have also experienced the daily operation of AMC. I am very impressed by the loan officers and the fresh energy AMC injected into Chifeng’s finance industry. Being the first 100% foreign-owned Microcredit Company in China, ACCION has had to overcome many difficulties.
AMC provides micro and small businesses with non-collateralized loans basing their underwriting on ACCION’s proven methodology of cash flow lending. Loan uses are mainly for businesses, such as working capital and purchases of income generating assets. AMC remains focused on the micro market with loan sizes starting at one thousand Yuan (RMB1,000) for a maximum term of 12 months with both principles and interests being paid back in installment monthly. Read the rest of this entry »
> Posted by Center Staff
What is client training and how is it done?
Pamela Chang, one of the ACCION International Ambassadors currently offering a blog’s-eye-view of microfinance around the world, poses this question in her first-hand observations of Fundación Paraguaya’s training program.
Chang’s insights follow those of Stephen Matthew Lee, Jason Loughnane, and Leah Vinton, all Ambassadors whose posts we’ve featured in recent weeks. If you want these posts straight from the source, the Ambassadors blog is also available via subscribing.
The July 17 post by Chang, “Thinking About Client Training – Again” begins:
I see recurring themes as I read the Ambassadors’ posts. Credit officers are microfinance heros, and knowledge is power. I want to look at the question of training; what is it? how to do it?
I learned of a two-day Fundación Paraguaya training program when I visited Gloria, the president of the Comite San Antonio. This rural committee is in Mallorquin, some 60km outside of Ciudad del Este. The day was beautiful and I jumped at the chance to escape the dust and fumes of the city for a day in the tranquil countryside.
Comite San Antonio comprises 17 women with a variety of businesses. I had met the group on a previous visit with the asesora, but this was a personal visit. Miriam and Cynthia, sisters and mathematicians, joined us. Cynthia is not a committee member and Miriam is a hairdresser (a popular undertaking); both are single, in their mid-20′s, and attending university. Cynthia hopes to be a math professor.
> Posted by Center Staff
Where, what, or who is the “real” India? Or for that matter, the real China, Paraguay, or Tanzania?
ACCION International’s Ambassadors are mulling such questions from their financial and philosophical angles, not to mention culinary and meteorological. We’re cross-posting their blog insights from time to time, and you can go straight to the source by subscribing.
We recently highlighted Jason Loughnane and Leah Vinton‘s takes on events on the ground in Tanzania and Paraguay; this week, David Firth Bard grapples with the “what’s the real?” question from Bihar.
His June 20 post starts out:
At last I have arrived in Patna, the home of ACCION partner Saija Finance Private Limited. At ACCION, we frequently and proudly note that Saija is at work in one of the most challenging and underserved places on earth: Bihar, India’s poorest state. With an overall literacy rate hovering below 50% (and among women, only 33%), lagging infrastructure, high incidence of crime, and a legacy of political corruption, there are certainly many challenges to overcome here, and not just for microenterpreneurs.
> Posted by Center Staff
From China to Paraguay, ACCION International’s Ambassadors are blogging from the field. Their dedicated blog is a great view of microfinance from roughly 5-6 feet, instead of the frequent bird’s-eye view from 30,000′. We’ll be cross-posting, but it’s also a good idea to consider subscribing.
We recently showcased Jason Loughnane‘s post on Akiba’s new loans via a program that bears a passing resemblance to Energy Links. This time around, we’re excited to share “The Classroom Beneath the Tree,” Leah Vinton‘s take on financial literacy as promoted by Fundación Paraguaya.
Vinton’s June 14 post starts out:
2,700 women by December. If Fundación Paraguaya has their way, they will reach 2,700 women with enhanced financial literacy training in order to reach the even larger Fundación goal of assisting more than 6,000 women to increase their incomes enough to surpass the poverty line by the end of December. No small task.
> Posted by Center Staff
Tanzania, India, Mexico, and beyond – ACCION International’s Ambassadors are in the thick of it, jotting down notes about the industry as they observe events on the ground. We’re following these volunteers’ reports via their dedicated blog. We’ll be keeping you in the loop with occasional cross-posts.
While there are too many good posts already to showcase them all, Jason Loughnane‘s look at microfinance and access to electricity in Tanzania stands out to us. Perhaps that’ s because his post on Akiba’s new loans sheds light on a program that bears a passing resemblance to Energy Links.
Loughnane’s June 6 post introduces the story as follows:
Only 14 percent of Tanzanians have electricity in their homes. Akiba thinks that is unacceptable, and has designed a way to help.
On Friday I attended the official launch of Akiba’s Umeme (Electricity) Loan, which seeks to help expand the accessibility of power to Tanzania’s poor. Read the rest of this entry »
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