Make Poverty Business

INSEAD Knowledge have recently posted an overview of social entrepreneurship, with some interesting examples of new business models to serve social needs.

A new organisation, Esteamwork, aims to connect businesses and professionals with non-profit organisations to work on joint projects.

The World Bank are holding a conference on financing small businesses on 5 and 6 May in Washington. The conference website includes a host of resources on the subject. 

The peer-to-peer micro-lending organisation Kiva help businesspeople in the US to lend to small businesses in developing countries. They have now announced that the major credit card company Advanta will match any loans made using the Kiva-Advanta credit card.

The Economist has recently published a good overview of the opportunities for conventional banks to provide financial services to bottom of the pyramid customers in Africa.

Wharton Business School have published a good survey of some emerging problems in microfinance.  In Make Poverty Business we identified the problem that micro-loans tended to increase poor people's risk if not accompanied by micro-savings and micro-insurance.  Wharton now identify the problem that many new entrants are coming into the (unregulated) market, in some cases exploiting poor people and diluting the initial good intentions of reducing poverty.