http://www.nextbillion.net/blogs/2008/04/17/the-commercialization-of-microfinance-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly Comments for "The Commercialization of Microfinance: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" en http://www.nextbillion.net/blogs/2008/04/17/the-commercialization-of-microfinance-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly#comment-23997 In the context of the good, the bad and the ugly about microfinance, is the url to an op-ed piece exploring the potentialities and limitations of microfinance. It also explores structural reasons why it tends to be expensive. This piece was published in the Hindu (one of India's leading newspapers) to mark Yunus being awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace. Mritiunjoy Mohanty http://www.hindu.com/2006/11/15/stories/2006111506441200.htm<br class="clear" /> Mon, 21 Apr 2008 16:46:28 -0500 Mritiunjoy Mohanty comment 23997 at http://www.nextbillion.net http://www.nextbillion.net/blogs/2008/04/17/the-commercialization-of-microfinance-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly <p style="padding: 5px; float: right;"><img src="http://www.nextbillion.net/files/images/Isobel Coleman.img_assist_custom.jpg" alt="" title="" class="image img_assist_custom" width="100" height="150" /></p>Today in New York, I had the pleasure of attending a round table organized by the <a href="http://www.cfr.org/">Council on Foreign Relations</a> entitled <strong><em>The Commercialization of Microfinance: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly</em></strong>. Moderated by CFR Senior Fellow <a href="http://www.cfr.org/bios/5206/isobel_coleman.html">Isobel Coleman</a>, the discussion featured comments from <a href="http://www.womensworldbanking.org/id,5/sid,30/">Mary Ellen Iskenderian</a> (of Women&#39;s World Banking) and <a href="http://www.schwabfound.org/schwabentrepreneurs.htm?schwabid=911&amp;extended=yes">Roshaneh Zafar</a> (of the Kashf Foundation.)<br /><br />I arrived early, set up my laptop and grabbed a bite to eat (if you&#39;re curious, the CFR building is beautiful and they do a good lunch spread). Before I was through my sandwich, the room had filled to capacity and CFR staffers were scrambling to set up overflow seating – there’s clearly a lot of interest in the <a href="/blogs/2007/10/16/hard-questions-for-microfinance-how-much-profit-is-too-much-profit">recent controversy surrounding microfinance</a>. It was quickly apparent that women outnumbered men in the audience by a ratio of about 2:1 – interesting, though not completely unexpected given the importance of women in microfinance and the fact that the speakers and moderator are all women.<br /><br />Coleman kicked off the session with brief introductions and quickly segued into the topic at hand – the good, bad and ugly of microfinance. She stated – without dissent – that microfinance now finds itself at an inflection point. On the one hand, there have been calls for microfinance not to profit off the backs of the poor, notably in the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/05/business/worldbusiness/05micro.html">New York Times&#39; coverage of Compartamos&#39; IPO</a>. On the other hand, those who know microfinance realize that it can&#39;t scale – from 100 million clients today to its potential market of 4 billion – without the capital markets, and the formality capital markets require.<br /><br />I thought Coleman did a good job setting the stage here. From my perspective as a quasi-insider, there wasn&#39;t much new – but it is important to say nonetheless. Microfinance can and will go one of two directions, and it&#39;s pretty clear that there are strong arguments being made by advocates on either side.<br /><br />(This post continues past the break; click &quot;Read More&quot; to continue)<br /> <br class="clear" /><p><a href="http://www.nextbillion.net/blogs/2008/04/17/the-commercialization-of-microfinance-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly">read more</a></p> http://www.nextbillion.net/blogs/2008/04/17/the-commercialization-of-microfinance-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly#comment Microfinance Thu, 17 Apr 2008 17:45:29 -0500 Rob Katz 5442 at http://www.nextbillion.net