USAID Microlinks

The following press release is from the Microinsurance Network on January 26, 2012: When 16 experts first sat down in early 2002 to  form the CGAP Working Group on Microinsurance, none of them could have imagined what would be achieved 10 years on. The participants of this meeting realised the need for an exchange and learning platform to...

Washington D.C., January 24, 2012 – MicroRate’s study Role Reversal Revisited: Are public development institutions still crowding out private funders? concludes that the answer is a resounding yes! This finding contradicts statements by development finance institutions (DFIs), which claim that public money will only go where private funders...

  At what point does multiple borrowing result in over-indebtedness? How do we know clients are over-indebted if they are still making payments on their loans?  These are just some of the key questions raised during a recent virtual conference organized by CGAP, IFMR, and MicroSave.  The Microfinance Gateway’s latest Microfinance...

The winner of the 2011 CGAP Microfinance Photography Contest is Ngo Quang Phuc of Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam. Phuc, 53, is a doctor and a serious amateur photographer, who has been documenting life in Vietnam for two over decades. His photo won out over more than 2,000 entries from professional and non-professional photographers from over 70 countries...

As research to date suggests, and as project implementers can attest, the ‘poorest of the poor’ rarely benefit from value chain development initiatives as a result of constraints that preclude them from participating in project activities as well as from attracting the attention of private-sector actors. Recently, USAID has hosted an e-...

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are often the backbone of a country’s economy, as they employ large numbers of people. Unfortunately, the environments in which SMEs operate are not always conducive for their growth and development. While access to finance is often difficult for SMEs, it is not the only problem these entities face. Three...

CGAP staff share their recommendations for the best financial inclusion reads of the year. Here are the books, articles, and blog posts that offered CGAP staff fresh insights on their work. As 2011 comes to a close, the Microfinance Gateway also looks back to see how much the site has grown and highlights the year's most popular content. The...