Monday, August 17, 2009 This
post can also be interacted with at http://www.mficonnect.com/forum/topics/mapping-yes-we-can-africa-openOver the last 18 months I have participated in and searched a lot of Dr Yunus' and Sam Daley-Harris' goals and
mapped support networks to empower Yes We Can Africa. Can you help collate resources on this in one thread? It
would particularly help now for 2 reasons I am aware of; 1) Dr Yunus is inviting the world to connect up
a youth ambassador 5000 network starting next month- it would be useful to have resource spaces that get yes we can youth
ambassadors off to a fast start with a common set of information and ideally connections to collaboration projects 2) Friends of Dr Yunus are using last week's Presidential medal to try and brief all G8 leaders on yes we can opportunities with Africa and microcreditsummit Kenya plans taking on one notable connecting focus If you are interested in other views of africa, by all means
start other threads and I will reference them here- but I would like to get as clear a map as we can of what dr yunus and
Sam Daley-Harris are planning so that we can then verify with both of them details at an next level of connecting projects
to be more than the sum of their parts Yunus 10 Downing Street Video Yunus when giving mandela speech in july made a video inviting Fifa to celebrate end poverty as well as South Africa's world cup Yunus
has mentioned the first social business fund in Europe will make Africa one of its 2 priorities - environment being other Yunus, Sam D-H , and Ingrid
Munro started 2009 with a review of the best news of the decade. This was presented at JP Morgan. The opportunity to reveal
Jamii bora as benchmark for scaling youth mobile and urban slum microcredit was celebrated Sam D-H and Ingrid Munro celebrated
announcement of Kenya Microcreditsummit 2010 by flying over to Madrid and signing up 2 intents with Queen Sofia: 1) She wants
to support exchanges of knowledge across southern hemispehere with a particular focus on connecting Spanish speaking (building
also on columbia mcs 09) that she can cheer on and African that Ingrid Munro networks can cheer on 2) She has signed up mardid
to be world microcreditsummit host in 2011 I imagine there is lots more yes we can good news linking in for africa-
can you help us connect it into one integrated open plan? Micro up is community sustainability's other way round system than
global trickle down aid and I believe Africans have a transparency right to explore the differences and make a choice as to
how to sustain progrtess towards millennial goals and other ways of uniting the race to end poverty. Their example can also
inspite Yes We Can Americans and Yes We Can youth worldwide to collaborative network with the urgency that sustainability
and humanity now requires.
Saturday, March 21, 2009 kickstart is the most brillaint irrigation tool kenya has ever seen - why not replicate in other countreis 8:06 pm edt
8:02 pm edt
8:01 pm edt
http://www.subayo.org/Our Vision is to Elevate Women's Standards of Living in the Accra, Denu, Volta and Ashanti Regions in Ghana
as well as in Lusaka and Western Region in Zambia.
I have met the founder of this twice. She's as passionate about
her goals as anyone. She's trusting to a form of community microcredit connected by developing a sector that a region can
be uniquely good at. She networks New York african disapora with a gutsy approach that only a deeply caring lady can
I have never seen her exact experiment before in spite of reading up on about 200 microcredits - will it work? - hope so-
could be the most inspiring micro-investment afroca has ever seen
Makes internet channels like kiva look very average
if it works 7:34 pm edt
News from microenergycredits.com partnerships in africa: FINCA Uganda MFIs are missing out on an
innovative source of finance that has the potential to help borrowers improve their quality of life and the environment by
switching from traditional energy to clean energy technologies. Why should MFIs encourage their clients to use clean energy
technologies? How can MFIs interact with the mainstream carbon markets? James Dailey and April Allderdice, Co-Founders
of MicroEnergy Credits, explain how. In 2007 companies in Europe
purchased US$30bn in carbon credits. What does this mean? This amount of grant financing was paid to cover the gap in cost
between modern clean energy technologies and traditional “polluting” fuels. The Carbon Markets were created when
the Kyoto Protocol, an international treaty designed to prevent climate change, went into effect in 2005. Developed
countries that signed the Protocol agreed to cap their carbon emissions by giving allowances to companies in key industries.
When a company in a developed country pollutes beyond its allowance it is legally bound to purchase a “carbon credit”
from another company that has polluted less than its allowance. It can also purchase a carbon credit from a project
in a developing country that uses a clean technology. Now MFIs can access this innovative
source of finance to help their clients improve their quality of life and the environment by switching from traditional energy
to clean energy technologies. Financing these clean energy technologies can be a sustainable product line for MFIs, and is
even more attractive when Carbon Market revenue streams are considered. Clean Energy
Products Can be a Sustainable Product Line for MFIs
A successful example is Grameen Shakti, the renewable energy sister-company of the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. Grameen Shakti markets three energy technologies
to its clients. These are solar home systems, improved cookstoves and biogas digesters. Grameen Shakti has sold over
180,000 solar home systems to its clients in Bangladesh. These energy products enable households and microenterprises to reduce
their energy expenditure on kerosene, wood and charcoal. Moreover, clean fuels avoid health problems such as smoke and
pollutants in the home or fire. Finally, these renewable energy technologies put microfinance clients on a path to achieve
energy self-sufficiency. After they pay off their systems, clients own their own source of electricity or biogas with
minimal ongoing costs, and they are insulated from common problems such as power outages or increases in fuel or utility prices. In fact the traditional energy sources that many microfinance clients depend on are in many ways
part of a vicious cycle. Building a clean energy path may become an integral part of every microfinance clients’
journey out of poverty. How does the Microfinance Carbon Program enable MFIs to
receive Carbon Revenue?
MicroEnergy Credits is the first,company to offer a complete solution, helping Microfinance
Institutions (MFIs) finance clean energy products and receive revenues from the Carbon Markets. MEC
works with Dublin-based EcoSecurities (LSE: ECO), a premier carbon trading firm, to turn the clean energy investments financed
by MFIs into securities known as “carbon credits” which are marketed on either the voluntary or the compulsory
carbon markets. Until now the carbon markets had focused almost exclusively on large projects, because the transaction costs
associated with carbon projects were too high to justify small projects. MEC aggregates the carbon credits from a global
pool of MFIs, creating sufficient volume to reduce the transaction costs. This opens up the market for microfinance clients
to take advantage of this valuable new source of finance. Other efforts in the market target
related problems. For example, Energy Links, an initiative of Accion, launched in 2007, develops and documents new approaches
to financing and marketing energy products via microfinance networks. They have initially focused on low cost, high efficiency
LED lanterns. Another player in the market is E&Co, which invests in clean energy product suppliers in emerging
markets. E&Co''s approach promotes products that MFIs might find attractive for their clients. E&Co also incorporates
carbon finance in its investment package. Arc Finance is a new organization launched in 2008 with the goal of
bridging knowledge and resource gaps between the energy and microfinance sectors. Arc develops innovative linkages between
microfinance institutions (MFIs) and energy businesses and also supports the improvement of existing energy lending programs
in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean. MicroEnergy Credits (MEC) was
launched on 5 May, 2008 at Finca Uganda where it is providing carbon credit revenues for three products including
solar energy systems, energy efficient stoves and efficient handheld lanterns, based on demand for those products by Finca''s
customers and utilizing different suppliers. MEC is also planning to announce several new partners in Asia and Africa
in early 2009. Who Should Receive the Revenues from Carbon Offset Sales?
In a sustainable market, many players come together to create a carbon offset. The client purchases the product;
a distributor provides equipment; the MFI provides financing’ and there may also be a manufacturer, an NGO and a donor
in the mix. In the current regulatory environment all or any of these players may make the case that they should receive
the carbon offset. However, in every instance the choice needs to be clear because there can be no “double counting”
of carbon offsets. Many programs may coexist to provide carbon finance for the market
served by MFIs. For example, a supplier may work with a carbon firm to receive carbon revenues for all of their products,
or a donor may work with a local or national government to provide carbon finance for a set of clean energy investments. However,
MEC''s “MicroFinance Carbon Program” has key benefits in cases when an MFI is involved. MEC believes the MFI can
play a critical role in “brokering” the energy product to its client base. MFIs may be the perfect conveyors of
carbon revenues because they can easily structure the carbon revenues into high value benefits to the client such as reduced
interest, longer loan terms, improved education or after sales service. Since the suppliers of clean energy products benefit
from the expanded market, and in some cases reduced effective cost to clients, they also benefit from foregoing their claim
on the carbon revenue for these markets. Carbon revenues are renewable every year
as long as the client continues to use the clean energy product, and the MFI continues to monitor the investment. Thus, the
program encourages the MFI to work to ensure that the energy technologies are maintained in good working order year after
year. Additionally, microfinance institutions can benefit repeatedly when clients expand their use of clean and energy efficient
technologies as their quality of life and capacity to invest increases. The MicroFinance
Carbon Program encourages MFIs to establish a long-term stake in their clients’ energy choices, helping link clients
to locally available options that benefit their income, health, and the global environment. What
is the Linkage Between the Carbon Markets and the Poor?
Those following the debates about the Kyoto Protocol
of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Bali, and recently at Poznan, realize that a key critique
of this global international accord centers on the relationship between the Carbon Markets and the more than two billion people
that suffer from energy poverty. It prompts the question, “How can we ensure that a broad based clean energy future
is invested in efficiently?” These issues have been difficult to answer, not because the poor don’t
need clean energy, but rather because the carbon market players in the early years of market development have been wholesalers,
and have focused on the largest clean energy projects. Sadly, these large projects cannot reach the poor who do not even have
access to the electric grid. The Microfinance Carbon Program asks: “What clean energy
technologies can improve your clients’ lives?” If your client wishes to invest in clean energy technology,
the global community is willing to provide some additional support to share the burden of saving the planet. Envisioning a Microfinance Carbon Industry
In order for the Microfinance Industry to become
a more significant player in the carbon markets, MFIs need to demonstrate two things. First, they must show that they
are good brokers of clean energy systems—in other words, that they can help connect their clients with the right technologies
and ensure the technologies stay in good functional condition over the long term. Second, they must prove that they
are good bookkeepers of the carbon offsets. The carbon markets are a financial market and depend on transparent, verifiable
records of the history and current status of the energy assets. As MFIs build their track record in these two areas,
increasingly they will be viewed as important intermediaries by the carbon markets and will be able to capture more of the
value in the carbon value chain. MicroEnergy Credits is committed to encouraging industry
development and to passing on more value to MFIs as the price of carbon goes up, and as the market aggregates more volume. MEC encourages every MFI to think about their clients and the carbon offset opportunities they
have. Each microfinance client has the opportunity to get on a clean energy path by improving the lighting and cooking in
their home and in their business, school and clinic—this is a value the MFI can cultivate over time, and for which they
now can accumulate carbon credit revenues. Next Steps
If your MFI
is interested in providing loans for clean energy and energy efficient products, partnering with a company like MEC can help.
Partners can assist in the identification of clean energy products, program design, staff training and ongoing support.
If your MFI has already established a capacity to lend for clean energy products, MEC can work with you to calculate the carbon
emissions offset by the clean energy products and incorporate the practices needed to capture carbon market revenues
from the offsets created as you scale up the energy lending to more clients. James Dailey
and April Allderdice founded MicroEnergy Credits in 2008. For more information, please send an email to info@microenergycredits.com
or visit www.microenergycredits.com.
Learn more about GBMhttp://www.greenbeltmovement.org/ Kenya The Challenge for Africa(New York: Pantheon, 2009) The challenges facing Africa today
are severe and wide ranging. Yet what we see of them in the media, more often than not, are tableaux vivantes connoting
poverty, dependence, and desperation. Wangari Maathai presents a different vision, informed by her three decades as an environmental
activist and campaigner for democracy. She illuminates the complex and dynamic nature of the continent, and offers "hard-headed
hope" and "realistic options" for change and improvement. With clarity of expression, Maathai analyzes the
most egregious "bottlenecks to development in Africa" occurring at the international, national, and individual levels—cultural
upheaval and enduring poverty, among them—and deftly describes what Africans can and need to do for themselves, stressing
all the while responsibility and accountability. Buy
The Challenge for Africa
Click on the links to buy The Challenge for Africa
in the following countries: North America (April 2009) || UK (April 2009) || France (Summer 2009) From Publishers WeeklyThe Challenge for Africa
Wangari Maathai. Pantheon, $25 (336p) ISBN 978-0-307-37740-1Africa's moral and cultural dysfunctions loom as large as its material
problems in this wide-ranging jeremiad. Maathai (Unbowed), a Kenyan biologist and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize
for organizing the tree-planting Green Belt Movement, surveys Africa's struggle with poverty and disease, political violence,
climate change, the legacy of colonialism and a global economy that's stacked against it. But the deeper problem she sees
is the selfishness, opportunism and shortsightedness of Africans themselves, from leaders who exploit their countrymen and
loot their nations' resources to poor farmers who ruin the land for short-term gain. Maathai means this as an empowering message
aimed at a mindset of dependency that would rather “wait for someone to magically make development happen”; she
urges Africans to recover indigenous traditions of community solidarity and self-help, along with the virtues of honesty,
fairness and hard work. Maathai shrewdly analyzes the links between environmental degradation and underdevelopment, and floats
intriguing proposals, like banning plastic bags as a malaria-abatement measure. But the challenges she addresses are vast
and intractable—and sadly, many of the development and environmental initiatives she extols seem to have already fizzled.
(Apr.) 12:24 am edt
Friday, March 20, 2009 Attend the conference, “Lessons from the Poor: The Power of Entrepreneurship,” featuring Alvaro Vargas Llosa, former
Bolivian President Jorge Quiroga, William Easterly, William Ratliff, George B. N. Ayittey, Fredrik Erixon, Gabriel Gasave,
Daniel Cordova, Martin Simonetta, and Thompson Ayodele http://ippanigeria.org (Washington, D.C., 11/13/08) 11:55 pm edt
CIDA Free University Johanesburg
11:38 pm edt
Tunisia Enda-Arabefrom march 09 microfinancefocusEnda inter-arabe’s co-founders Essma Ben Hamida,
Tunisian, the executive director, studied
history and geography before becoming a school teacher while also being a
newscaster on Tunisian television. She later opened the first office in North America of the official Tunis Afrique Presse (TAP) and then joined the only Third World press agency, Inter- Press
Service, based in Rome. Michael Cracknell, British, the Secretary General, has degrees in Arts, in Political Science and in Law. He has worked for the UN (FAO but also as a consultant for IFAD,
UNEP and UNCTAD). Prior to setting up enda inter -arabe, he ran the Paris-based
International Federation of Agricultural Producers
December,
enda inter-arabe was classed as the world’s 18th highest-performing MFI by the
Mix Market. And yet, its micro-credit activities came into being almost by chance in what was then a hostile environment. In 1990, Essma Ben Hamida, a Tunisian, and her husband,
Michael Cracknell, a Brit, decided they wanted to actually do something concrete about development, something they had been writing about for years. And where better to go than Essma’s home country, Tunisia? For the first few years, they organised international or
regional conferences aligned with the UN’s thematic conferences of the ‘90s (social development, water,
women…). At the same time, they set up a youth vocational training centre and ran a women’s health education project, among others. Micro-credit raised its ugly head in 1994? when
a survey of women showed they had income-generating skills, such as traditional weaving
and sewing, but not the first bent cent to purchase supplies. After one year studying,
visiting and reading, thanks to a Ford Foundation grant, enda inter-arabe added micro-credit
to its other activities. It began with a capital of just $20 000 contributed by Emmaüs international, based in France. For the next five years, enda inter-arabe continued on
its original course, with grant-funded projects in the area of youth, women and micro-credit. All were basically limited to the same poor suburb of the capital, Tunis, and the “beneficiaries”
were essentially women “without work” (apart from raising sev-
eral children and keeping the home on
a shoe-string budget…) or working as cleaners in better-off neighbourhoods
or as poorly-paid unskilled labour in textile factories. As time went by, and enda’s
staff rose from two in 1990 to 35 in 2000, it became clear that it would be difficult
to do a good job with micro-credit while maintaining the other activities. From 2001, enda therefore
has been concentrating its activities on providing financial and non-financial services to micro- entrepreneurs, with a focus on women. Eight years on, and 14 years after the micro-credit activity began, the wisdom of that decision taken in 2000 has been proven. If enda inter-arabe
had remained a grant-dependent NGO as at its beginnings, it would probably have had
a positive influence on the lives of a few hundred young Tunisians, some would have
found jobs, many would have been more sociable, a couple of thousand women would be more
conscious of how to care better for their own and their family’s health. The decision
to concentrate on support for microentrepreneurs has meant enda-ia’s impact has been infinitely
greater, including, indirectly, its impact on health and youth. Today, to the never-ending
astonishment of the cofounders, enda inter-arabe is serving 100 000 microentrepreneurs throughout
Tunisia (77% women), from 52 branches and with a full-time staff of over 500, mainly
young university graduates. Moreover, it has been self-sufficient since 2003 – income
from the micro-finance activity covers all the expenses as well as the cost of borrowing from financial institutions
in order to keep up with demand. 9:57 pm edt
The Importance of Training ... Perspective of Peter Ryan,
Founder and CEO of the Microloan Foundation By, Peter Burgess, Correspondent , New York ( Microfinance Focus) , March 2nd, 2009 I caught up with Peter Ryan last month in Boston. Peter is the founder and CEO of Micro-Loan Foundation
(MLF), a UK charity
that has established a successful growing microfinance organization in Malawi, and now starting to expand into neighboring countries. Peter was visiting the Boston area to celebrate the
first anniversary of the MicroLoan Foundation USA that is helping to fund the growth of MLF. Peter Ryan first saw the potential of microfinance when traveling with friends in the Philippines. A small loan got paid back and did
some visible good. In 1997 Peter saw the depth of poverty in Africa during a business visit to Malawi and recognized that
microcredit could be the catalyst for development and poverty reduction that was not mere charity but truly sustainable. Because
Peter had a business background, and had started a number of businesses, he was aware of some of the critical issues that
cause business to fail ... and the MLF program he designed reduced these risks. MLF Malawi opened its first office in 2002 in Nkhotakota, a small fishing town that combined the greatest
need with the least provision of microfinance services. The first loans were made in 2002 and by 2003 the MLF had a staff
of five, had made over 600 loans and had a 97% repayment rate. A second office was opened in Dwangwa, north of the first office
in 2004 and more offices added over the next five years so that there are now 15 offices, with 5 more to be opened this year.
In addition MLF is expanding into neighboring countries starting with Zambia. It will start in other countries in Southern Africa: probably these will be Mozambique, Namibia and Botswana . The Zambia program will be headed up by the Kenson Chiphaka who was
MLF Malawi CEO who built up the Malawi operation so successfully. The new Malawi CEO will be another Malawian. James Kajama with strong development and banking credentials.By some standards the interest rates charged by MLF in Malawi are
high ... maybe around 66% per annum ... but this interest income makes it possible for MicroLoan to be sustainable over a
long period while having a substantial microloan portfolio and providing critical training to its clients. Because people
in the rural areas of Malawi are poorly educated, the people have little opportunity for progress. While the lack of money is one constraining
factor, in Malawi,
according to Peter Ryan, there is in addition a big deficit in education and knowing the basics of business. This is why MLF
is very committed to the idea of training as an integral part of its program. Almost all of the MLF loans are made to women
who are starting their own businesses. But before they may take a loan they must go through a training course. The women are
required to form into business groups electing a Chairman, Treasurer and secretary and are then given a six to eight week
crash course on key aspects of business management. During the initial stages of the business, they are provided with constant
guidance as their modest business takes off. This includes support in practical training for very basic business skills like
cash-flow planning that enables people to get businesses up and running very quickly. Within 4 months MLF trainees are running
real businesses and usually have repaid the initial loan in full. Many of the businesses are trading businesses, such as buying
fish from the lake (Lake Nyasa), rice or tomatoes, and selling them in the capital, Lilongwe, where they earn a profit. Others are small production or “value adding”
businesses, such as bread or knitted products which are hand-made and then sold in the local street markets. Without MLF these
people would have no access to the money needed to buy the equipment and materials to start these businesses.During the MLF training the potential clients are given the opportunity
to learn something of what it is that they need to know to be successful. It is a comprehensive curriculum. Many businesses
start ups fail because of they do no know or understand the market. Borrowers starting up a business must know about the product
or service, the competition, the prices, and all sorts of hidden problems and issues. People in a poor community need the
basics. They need food, and clothes, and also things like medicine, fishing lines, firewood, spare parts, and such. A good
business satisfies real needs and will succeed if it supplies the goods or service at a low cost. Market research need not
be complicated, but there must be a sound analysis and application of common sense. MLF helps to ensure that the potential clients know how to start the business in accordance with local
custom. In Malawi,
setting up a small business requires consulting with the local chief or village head man. This may not be written in the national
law and regulation, but it is a customary requirement and is an important part of the ‘due diligence’ that the
MLF carries out before loans are given as it helps ensure high levels of repayment. In real estate there are only three things
that matter ... location, location and location. The same goes for a small business. The place where the business is set up
makes a big difference. This may not be obvious ... it is part of the training. Customers must be able to get to the business
easily, and it must be possible for the business owner to bring the products. Convenience is a big value in a society where
walking is the norm for most travel! Growth is
not the top priority ... first of all learn how to have a sustainable small business keeping costs as low as possible, and
grow because there is demand for the goods and services not because there is an overly big overhead cost to be covered! It
is much better to have low overhead and low costs and low prices and a growing business than to have high prices, high costs
and no business. Basic business know-how and financial discipline is a cornerstones of MLF training philosophy and success.
Potential borrowers are required to demonstrate that they can manage money by saving up a small sum themselves – 10%
or 15% of the loan - before receiving their money. MLF does not walk away as soon as the loan is disbursed, rather they stay
very much involved. The business training goes on for six weeks so that the clients can learn to run meetings, have elections
for their group leadership: chairperson, secretary, treasurer, etc., keep records, bank money, manage their cashflow, budget
for their business and ensure that they make a profit. Many of these people do not read or write, and they do not have calculators.
All of this has to be done using talk and using mental arithmetic. MLF business start up borrowers meet every two weeks with
their loan officer to review their business progress, and to make repayments against their loan. This is a tight schedule and borrowers find it difficult, but the discipline is extremely
valuable. Critical problems can be identified quickly and steps taken to solve the problem with the help of the loan officer.
The role of the loan officer is crucial. The loan officer's experience can be used to help a struggling business and do something
to correct the problem. This is a level of engagement that is costly, but incredibly valuable. MLF uses a group lending model
with business start up groups of between eight and fifteen women. The group is collectively responsible for the repayment
of each individual loan. If one member of a group gets into trouble, the others have to be prepared to help her out. This
happens, for example, if one member of a group becomes ill and they cannot operate the business for a while. In the case of
a group member dying before her loan is repaid the loan is written off, but where someone is suffering from an illness other
members of the group take responsibility for carrying her through the period of the illness. MLF provides know-how, start-up capital, and on-going support but
the individual borrowers design and run the businesses for themselves. 97% of the loans are re-paid in full. But it appears
from what Peter Ryan talks about that the results are really a whole lot better than these financial results. Small rather
remote communities that were doing nothing more than existing ... and declining ... have found ways to have businesses that
satisfy needs and earn income. The 3% failure rate results from factors that are out of MLF control, mostly that the borrower
has died. With life expectancy of only 37 years, mainly because of the high incidence of HIV/AIDS, it is a sad fact of life
that some of the businesses will fail because the borrower dies. MLF Malawi is demonstrating that a very basic sensible approach
to development can be sustainable and make a big impact. Training is central to the success of the MLF in Malawi. The approach
does not use rocket science ... just very advanced common sense 7:01 pm edt
Friday, March 13, 2009 #1 Jamii Bora, Kenya http://www.youtube.com/results?search_type=&search_query=jamii+bora&aq=f
Known as the banking's best news in 21sCentury - celebrated the world over from JP Morgan in Manhattan to
Kibera Slum in Nairobi- the reality story that Hollywood's slumdog millionniare could only fictionalise
not only the best case of mobile micro banking uniting youth and women but about 20 other benchmark cass in one including
lowest cost health insurance; how to build a 2000 home-town to start replacing slums; how to run a members end alcoholics
anonymous; how to run your own bottom-up business school
oh what a great time to be Kenyan with the world's
hi-trust leader barack Obama and the world's highest trust female banker Ingrid Munro ably supported by her youthul co-workers - partnered by all the deepest supporters in micro-up
world including wholeplanetfoundation and Unitus
official web ; fan web - tell us what stories to post here or to enetr into our worldwide open source bank of fututre capitalism cases
93 USCongress members demand that world bank empowers learing round JB 6:12 pm edt
|  | | 2009.08.01 | 2009.03.01 
|
text from our old web at YunusAfrica.com | |
| | | | .... video selections for africa From DowningSt From Yunus10000.com & Future Capitalism Ning From ObamaUni.com & YunusUni.com suggestions please to info@worldcitizen.tv | . | Micro Finance Housing Business Academy Health Tumaini Levuka Our Members Get Involved News | Jamii Bora (Good families) is a Kenyan microcredit network founded by Ingrid Munro They started with 50 beggars in 1999 in Nairobi, their social business now banks for over
130,000 members. The average loan in $95; to date they have loaned $21 million ;
the $95 is about break even (larger loans make profits; smaller ones make a loss); their aim is to ultimately make
$35 breakeven ; every member uses a swipecard to repay loans making Jamaii Bora a benchmark for hi-tech simplicity The language used is that JB offers a ladder out of poverty but every
member is responsible for climbing the ladder. The following membership services are offered: Microcredit Health and life insurance ($12 a year ; comes to 30 cents a
week) became necessary since family ill health was identified as a major risk to achieving repayments in microcredit’s
95%+ level Business School Housing Special programme for street beggars and plantation workers Programme for ending drunkenness among male members of family |
Jamii Bora announces partnership with wholeplanetfoundation and Unitus to serve Kenya fair trade coffee markets |
|
| | Sunday, December 21, 2008 Jamii
Bora - Kenya , arguably the most exciting model of an MFI in africa - unitus interview with founder ingrid munro ; unitus partnership news with JB and wholeplanetfoundation connecting microcredit and fair trade kenya cofffee; more on JB at the web resource I co-edit yunusafricaQuotes from Munro: Ms. Munro: To get out of the vicious cycle of poverty, people do need more than just
access to finance. They also need insurance, education, healthcare, housing—all the things that can help them move up and out of this vicious cycle instead of spiraling downward. Microfinance needs to be combined with
other programs to help people get out of poverty. It must also be stressed that microfinance should be about creating jobs. I think donors can play a very negative role here when they push microfinance institutions too
hard to be profitable and demonstrate sustainability—interpreted entirely as financial sustainability. This measure of success often promotes dropping the very poor to appear more successful since small loans are always
going to cost more to manage and administer. 7:02 pm est
Friday, November 14, 2008 Dear
All This is a rough note of a one-hour meeting Peter Burgess and I had with Thompson Ayodele yesterday in DC while he was over here at a meeeting attended by 300 people to launch
the book lessons from the poor. He was one of 9 contributing authors on cases. He was the only resident African to contribute to this book though a
case on Kenya supermarket Nakumatt is included. I feel we should raise 3 cheers to Thompson for contributing to a book that
William Easterly commends: Lessons from the Poor shows that the mightiest soldiers in the war on poverty are the poor themselves, This
fascinating book documents the remarkable creativity and entrepreneurship of the poor, ranging from the family grocer
in Kenya that became a supermarket giant to the makers of a traditional dyed cloth in the informal sector in Nigeria. Africa is not somewhere I have much personal experience hence I am sure Peter and Thompson can edit any nuances
I have missed from live reporting, and NY's Collaboration Cafeadditional team leaders particularly Spencer and Rachel may like to add questions to 1 I like the model of http://ippanigeria.org/ (tell me if you know of parallels). Its a local thinktank in Lagos that also hosts meetings vital to poverty action
networks. It has 4 full time staff members, but would like to scale up to 10 by hiring new people who would need about
$500 per month's salary. It also takes on interns that it does not pay but finds action learning projects for. 2
Thompson's chapter in lessons for the poor is on "The Nigerian Clothing Design Industry". This is the opening para
of his chapter in Lessons from the Poor." The adire or clothing design industry, employs thousands of people in Abeohuta
in Southwestern Nigeria, most of them women with little or no education who have used their entrepreneurial drive to make
a living and create wealth where previously there was only misery. These entrepreneurs have received no government aid. Through
action or omission, the government has placed many obstacles in their way. Yet they have been able to combat poverty much
more efficiently than foreign aid and official poverty-reduction programs. By creating thousands of small busineses and seizing
opportunities under spontaneous institutional arrangements that offers a good measure of security and therefore a predictable
environment, they have genearted employment, and many have assumed responsibility for their own health care and other basic
services.(Adire design uses indigo dye and a local cloth-making) " 3 Many so-called Microfinance programs
in Nigeria haven't sustained progress for reasons such as the government running them or foci in cities not the
poor women in rural areas. The adire traders are one of several association groups who could multiply their entrepreneurial
energies if real microcredit could be developed. It would be jolly useful if we can better understand whether there are
any benchmarks or catalysts for true microcredit in Nigeria. 4 As far as I can see the only MFI associated
with Grameen is about 250 miles east of Abehuta at Ogwashi-Uku, Delta State, Lift Above Poverty Organisation (LAPO)
was initiated by Mr. Godwin Ehigiamusoe -approximatekly 100,000 members http://www.lapo-ng.org/aboutus.php Although BRAC has announced intent to come to Nigeria http://blog4brac.blogspot.com/search?q=nigeria it is not evident much exists yet. Rachel can inform us if she wishes on ASA' s status to date. Apparently Dr Yunus
did speak in Lagos in August this year http://allafrica.com/stories/200808200697.html it is unclear to me who the various subnetworks connecting this may have been. 5 Since I have no personal
knowledge of Nigeria I had better pass the baton over to anyone who may wish to comment or ask questions. You all can decide
whether there is more info to share. best chris macrae usa 301 881 1655 301 881 1655
(washington dc region) I will post at blog http://yunusafrica.com/ where I paste postcards on what I hear or search about Micro Africa Rising. Thomson has kindly taken 100 http://yunus10000.com/ dvds back to Lagos; we'd love to hear any stories of where dvds of good news videos are more user friendly
to connect round than youtube.
Saturday, October 18, 2008 This
is week 1 of Yunus10000 dvd - a collaboration attempt to connect 10000 youth and community builders through 10000 dvds and video dialogue to alumni networks of Dr
Yunus and planetwide application of social business model and microsummits 200 dvds so far sent to africa- 100 Lagos Nigeria ; others have been shared between the parcel sent to Fantsuam Foundation, to David Mutua. hope these will get circulated to the book readers in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. gave a
book and a few DVDs to Caroline Ifeka in London, to take back to the REIWA project.  We hope our YunusWorld log of where the dvds are being shipped will soon show many vibrant African communities - currently for inquiries best
to contact me chris.macrae@yahoo.co.uk (usa 301 881 1655 301 881 1655 ) or Peter at http://tr-ac-net.org
Tuesday, September 23, 2008 Yunus bookclubs have started in Africa
6:10 am est
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Playlist: Africa | Making the world a better place!
01:44 http://www.thegreenchildren.orgTravel to visit the good people of Jamii Bora in KENYA with Tom Bevan and Milla Sunde of The Green Children, and
see how small loans to poor but budding entrepreneurs can make a BIG difference! |
| CIDA City Campus is the first and only virtually free higher education
institution in Southern Africa. Its focus is to provide previously disadvantaged youth with the opportunity to earn a fully
accredited and relevant 3-year Bachelor in Business Administration degree, as well as vocational and life skills training,
and self-management and entrepreneurial skills development. |
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