Thank you for bringing to us in a simple and brief way, the microfinance development in India and Larry’s indomitable efforts ( Larry, you are a Divine gift to the poor).

Your last paragraph is emotion evoking. It is easier to lay blame than to think, design and implement workable solutions to poverty eradication. The grand masters of microfinance have done a good job so far-they went where banks never went after many years of existence, and for anything gave the poor hope, an important asset.

Your post sends me thinking about the evolution of a microfinance operation, and the point where things go wrong. I take the normal path to an MFI founder to be: Start with a noble cause to empower the poor out of poverty. Get donors and investors to help you with funds to pursue the cause. You start growing in costs and revenues. You realize profits are sweet. You forget the original cause and become insensitive to the poor you meant to serve. They get over-indebted and disgruntled. You don’t notice that or notice and don’t care. There is an outcry from the poor your customers. Decibels increase. Government intervenes. Your business is affected. You get confused and wonder if to change business or close shop. You reflect and search your soul. Government sticks to its guns saying you either serve the poor sensibly or pack and go. You decide to go back to your original cause. You become more sensitive to the poor, for real. It dawns on you that we are in the financial inclusion era and your customer is king and queen. You either serve them as per their needs or join other sectors of business where obscene profits are lauded. You decide to get into real genuine empowerment bandwagon. You stop cursing the government and get down to business playing by the new rules.

Microfinance institutions, dust yourselves and don’t give up. You still have not scratched the surface of what you set to accomplish from the onset. and like we say in Kiswahili ” kuteleza si kuanguka” ( slipping is not falling)