Saturday, March 05, 2011

Microfinance Alone Can't Cure Poverty

Father and Son - The Cycle of Poverty ContinuesImage by uncultured via FlickrMicrofinance is no magic bullet. Microfinance alone can't cure poverty.

Good governance, I think, is the first precondition. Yunus saw that. That is why he tried to launch a political party in Bangladesh a few years back. But looks like the politicians in Bangladesh have managed to unlaunch him instead.

Focus, Focus, Focus

Microfinance Coop Society Member IIImage by Austin Yoder via FlickrAt this blog I want to switch to talking primarily about microfinance and the technologies and business practices primarily related to microfinance. The idea is to keep a steep learning curve. The idea is to communicate. The idea is to enter into conversations.

I have done a lot of reading and commenting on broad developments in tech, and I want to keep doing that, but so far that has been the primary thing by a wide margin. I want to narrow that margin. I want to start talking primarily about microfinance.

The three broad conceptual jumps I have made - moving from a non profit model to a for profit model, moving from a low tech model to a very high tech model, and doing the last mile under the same brand name everywhere through the franchise concept - have to be visited again and again.