Sustainability of Microfinance Self Help Groups in India
Sustainability of Microfinance Self Help Groups in India

Author: Ajai Nair

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 2005

Total Pages: 46

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The major form of microfinance in India is that based on women's Self Help Groups (SHGs), which are small groups of 10--20 members. These groups collect savings from their members and provide loans to them. However, unlike most accumulating savings and credit associations (ASCAs) found in several countries, these groups also obtain loans from banks and on-lend them to their members. By 2003, over 700,000 groups had obtained over Rs.20 billion (US$425 million) in loans from banks benefiting more than 10 million people. Delinquencies on these loans are reported to be less than 5 percent. Savings in these groups is estimated to be at least Rs.8 billion (US$170 million). Despite these considerable achievements, sustainability of the SHGs has been suspect because several essential services required by the SHGs are provided free or at a significantly subsidized cost by organizations that have developed these groups. A few promoter organizations have, however, developed federations of SHGs that provide these services and others that SHG members need, but which SHGs cannot feasibly provide. Using a case study approach, Nair explores the merits and constraints of federating. Three SHG federations that provide a wide range of services are studied. The findings suggest that federations could help SHGs become institutionally and financially sustainable because they provide the economies of scale that reduce transaction costs and make the provision of these services viable. But their sustainability is constrained by several factors--both internal, related to the federations themselves, and external, related to the other stakeholders. The author concludes by recommending some actions to address these constraints. This paper--a product of the Finance and Private Sector Development Unit, South Asia Region--is part of a larger effort in the region to study access to finance in India.

Microfinance
Microfinance

Author: Soumitra Sarkar

Publisher: Readworthy

Published: 2011

Total Pages: 378

ISBN-13: 935018012X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Microfinance is a useful tool for reducing poverty and building the capacity of the poor in management of sustainable self-employment, by way of providing financial services like credit, saving, housing consumption credit, insurance cover, etc. This book takes a holistic view of the various aspects of the microfinance programmes as adopted under Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY) in India, with special reference to the state of West Bengal. Critically examining how SGSY operates in relation to funding the programme, bank linkage system, training and capacity building of beneficiaries, thrift, credit and governance systems of SHGs, marketing of SHG products, role of bankers and NGOs, and the perceptions of the beneficiaries. It also analyses the impact of the SGSY programmes on the socio-economic empowerment of SHG members.

Why Doesn't Microfinance Work?
Why Doesn't Microfinance Work?

Author: Milford Bateman

Publisher: Zed Books Ltd.

Published: 2010-06-10

Total Pages: 384

ISBN-13: 1848138954

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Since its emergence in the 1970s, microfinance has risen to become one of the most high-profile policies to address poverty in developing and transition countries. It is beloved of rock stars, movie stars, royalty, high-profile politicians and ‘troubleshooting’ economists. In this provocative and controversial analysis, Milford Bateman reveals that microfinance doesn’t actually work. In fact, the case for it has been largely built on hype, on egregious half-truths and – latterly – on the Wall Street-style greed of those promoting and working in microfinance. Using a multitude of case studies, from India to Cambodia, Bolivia to Uganda, Serbia to Mexico, Bateman demonstrates that microfi nance actually constitutes a major barrier to sustainable economic and social development, and thus also to sustainable poverty reduction. As developing and transition countries attempt to repair the devastation wrought by the global financial crisis, Why Doesn’t Microfinance Work? argues forcefully that the role of microfinance in development policy urgently needs to be reconsidered.

The New Microfinance Handbook
The New Microfinance Handbook

Author: Joanna Ledgerwood

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 2013-02-01

Total Pages: 533

ISBN-13: 0821389289

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The New Microfinance Handbook provides a detailed overview of client financial service needs, the various providers and financial products and services that meet those needs, and the supporting functions that allow the financial market system to provide better, more appropriate financial services to the poor sustainably.

Islamic Finance and Sustainable Development
Islamic Finance and Sustainable Development

Author: Mohd Ma'Sum Billah

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2024-05-07

Total Pages: 246

ISBN-13: 1040024742

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The interest in improving Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) outcomes among stakeholders of Islamic banking and finance has become front and centre in the discussions relating to Islamic sustainable finance. This book offers an expansive overview of the relevant issues, global initiatives and trends in the management, governance, and operation of Islamic sustainable impact finance. It identifies the models and mechanisms required to achieve sustainable impact finance in the context of Islamic investment and project development and collects and observes the latest approaches in maintaining and fulfilling the principles of Shariah-compliance in Sustainable Development Goals and Environmental, Social and Governance-oriented projects. The book also explores conventional financing instruments, which are being used in modern practice. While Islamic sustainable finance provides a positive change in the Islamic banking and finance industry globally, implementing it is not without its challenges. Such challenges, such as the fulfilment of Shariah-compliance requirements, both legally and jurisprudentially, and the application and development of modern innovative products and hybrid models of classical products are highlighted and addressed in the book. The book delves into the current management practices of Islamic banking and finance, which promote Islamic sustainable impact finance and outlines strategies for meeting sustainable investments and projects. Other factors, such as the latest technology, regulations and social, political and economic policies are also considered. Evidence is provided via case studies from selected countries that participate actively in the Islamic banking and finance industry globally. The book will attract a wide audience from researchers, scholars, and students to stakeholders of Islamic banking and finance, regulators, policy makers and Shariah-compliant practitioners.

Social Entrepreneurship
Social Entrepreneurship

Author: Thomas S. Lyons

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 2012-11-27

Total Pages: 764

ISBN-13: 0313393427

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Tackling one of the hottest topics in business today, experts share practical insights about how to finance, market, manage, and assess a social entrepreneurship venture to create a new organization that can do well and do good. Social entrepreneurship is the practice of using the mindset, tools, techniques, and processes of entrepreneurship to confront pressing social issues—an intriguing concept that American business is just beginning to understand. Social Entrepreneurship: How Businesses Can Transform Society brings together a group of expert contributors who offer the very latest thinking about the tremendous potential of this rapidly growing field. Unlike other books on the subject that tend to be merely descriptive and/or inspirational, this set comprises three hands-on, how-to volumes that dig deeply into the major factors that impact social entrepreneurship. Each volume addresses one of three important aspects of setting up and running a successful enterprise: legal/organizational structure; marketing; and performance measurement and management. The author examines root concepts in detail, and spotlights opportunities, challenges, and the considerations involved in implementation. Practitioners will especially appreciate the set's practical insights and the contributors' efforts to link theory to practice in a way that facilitates effective action.

Confronting Microfinance
Confronting Microfinance

Author: Milford Bateman

Publisher: Kumarian Press

Published: 2011

Total Pages: 289

ISBN-13: 1565494377

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Incorporates global perspective but focuses on southeastern Europe, a key arena for microfinance and microcredit programs --

The Future of Microfinance
The Future of Microfinance

Author: Ira W. Lieberman

Publisher: Brookings Institution Press

Published: 2020-06-30

Total Pages: 493

ISBN-13: 0815737645

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

A major source of financing for the poor and no longer a niche industry Over the past four decades, microfinance—the provision of loans, savings, and insurance to small businesses and entrepreneurs shut out of traditional capital markets—has grown from a niche service in Bangladesh and a few other countries to a significant global source of financing. Some 200 million people globally now receive support from microfinance institutions, with most of the recipients in the developing world. In the beginning, much of the microfinance industry was managed by non-governmental organizations, but today the majority of these institutions are commercial and regulated by governments, and they provide safe places for the poor to save, as well as offering much-needed capital and other financial services. Now out of infancy, the microfinance industry faces major challenges, including its ability to deal with mobile banking and other technology and concerns that some markets are now over-saturated with microfinance. How the industry deals with these and other challenges will determine whether it will continue to grow or will be subsumed within the larger global financial sector. This book is based on the results of a workshop at Lehigh University among thirty-four leaders in the industry. The editors, working with contributions from more than a dozen leading authorities in the field, tell the important story of how microfinance developed, how it has met the needs of hundreds of millions of people, and they address key questions about how it can continue to meet those needs in the future.