You are currently browsing the monthly archive for April 2009.
> Posted by Anita Gardeva
Participants at the 2009 HBS-ACCION Course on Strategic Leadership in Microfinance
The HBS-ACCION Program on Strategic Leadership for Microfinance took place last week at the Harvard Business School campus for the fourth consecutive year. Present were over 60 leaders of organizations that bring financial services to the poor all over the world. The program aims to foster creative strategies that microfinance leaders can apply to increase outreach and profits, develop quality services for the bottom of the pyramid, increase efficiency, and align interests among stakeholders.
While not a leader of an organization myself, I got my first-hand look as a Center staff member. Each day of the week was an adventure. The HBS-ACCION Program teaches via Harvard’s trademark business case studies-immersing the reader in a real-life situation about a specific business at a specific point in time and then asking them to take the next step in deciding the business’s course of action. How would you solve the challenges faced by the organization? What has made this organization’s business model a success?
With a room full of seasoned leaders from around the world, such diverse expertise and passion from the participants brought each discussion to life. Read the rest of this entry »
> Posted by Kelley Mesa
The issue of client protection isn’t new. It’s been long discussed throughout the industry, specifically the need for an industry-wide code of conduct. Over the past several years, consensus has emerged that providers of financial services to low-income clients should adhere to six core principles. These principles are what guide the Campaign for Client Protection.
In the latest Center podcast, the Center for Financial Inclusion’s Elisabeth Rhyne and CGAP’s Kate McKee discuss the origins of the new Campaign, its importance and relevance at this moment in time, and the next steps they will take as the Campaign fully launches.
> Posted by Kelley Mesa
Center for Financial Inclusion Senior Fellow Paul Rippey has recently published a Focus Note with CGAP on Microfinance and Climate Change. Paul manages the Energy Links project, working to bring clean energy products to poor people in Africa and elsewhere.
> Posted by Paul Rippey
The Firefly Lamp - Solar-powered light for Mali
I was in Mali with David Levai for two weeks back in January, working to put together a coalition of importers, financiers, and distribution networks to get solar lamps out to people in villages. During the visit we met a particularly interesting potential partner, Ibrahim Togola – a young Malian, fluent in five languages, and with a PhD in renewable energy and economic development.
Togola is the director of the Mali Folkecenter. The Mali Folkecenter has nothing to do with folk music and handicrafts and everything to do with clean energy. It is a Malian NGO that is affiliated with the Danish Folkecenter for Renewable Energy. It works to promote the sustainable management of natural resources and their use to catalyze sustainable local economic growth.
In a world of Afro-pessimism, Togola is an Afro-optimist. Read the rest of this entry »
> Posted by Kelley Mesa
The new Campaign for Client Protection is an industry-wide initiative, led by the Center for Financial Inclusion and CGAP, to embed client protection into the fabric of the microfinance industry.
Already over 250 individuals, microfinance institutions and organizations, donors, and investors have endorsed the Campaign and the six core principles of client protection. Endorsement, however, is just one piece. Each one of 
these individuals and organizations will now answer the question “How do I make these principles of client protection come alive in my work?”
While a number of the principles are already deeply ingrained into organizational practices and codes, others may need more attention to be fully implemented. At the end of their April 3 blog post, Kiva writes that, for them, Principle 6 – Privacy of Client Data – poses a particular challenge for them. They list a number of possible actions that their Field Partners could take to ensure that client privacy is maintained.
> To learn more about the Campaign and how to endorse, click here.
> Posted by David Levai
Making briquette is not a very complicated process, but it definitely is a subtle one. It can be long and tedious and only after making quite a number of them can you understand the fine tuning of the input material in order to get the best output product. Very similar to cooking, as it’s not just about getting the ingredients right, but your technique.
Rather than delving into the complex explanations on the steps to take, let’s allow pictures to speak louder than words. Here’s a here’s a step-by-step visual guide on the briquette-making technique. You can follow the work of our three trainers – Mary, Victoria, and Gilbert – through these pictures and a video of the ultimate result. We thank Legacy Foundation, which has been promoting the use of briquettes, training producers, and research technological improvements worldwide for over two decades.
After that I hope you’ll all be ready to start making your own briquettes. Enjoy, have fun, and send us your recipes !!!
> Learn more about biomass briquettes and the Center’s Energy Links project
Facebook
Twitter
Recent Comments