ACCION eNews: Microfinance- Bearing Fruit in Bolivia This Action, on Change.org, the url Roots of Inequality http://globalhealth.change.org/actions/view/roots_of_inequality https://www.accion.org/Page.aspx?pid=1666 June 2009 New Book! Microfinance for Bankers and Investors In her new book, Elisabeth Rhyne, managing director of the Center for Financial Inclusion at ACCION International, explains how providing financial services to the poor is a unique business opportunity that is both socially AND financially responsible. Packed with instructive case studies, Microfinance for Bankers and Investors: Understanding the Opportunities and Challenges of the Market at the Bottom of the Pyramid offers readers a road map for where and how to successfully invest in greater financial inclusion. Purchase your copy on Amazon.com today! Meeting the Needs of Mexican Microentrepreneurs ACCION has partnered with a young and innovative microfinance institution (MFI) in Mexico to reach more microentrepreneurs at the base of the economic pyramid. ACCION and enConfianza signed a long-term contract earlier this month in which ACCION will advise the MFI on credit methodology, risk management, project and process management, and human resources and organizational development. Read more here. ACCION USA: Now Connecting Individual Lenders to U.S. Borrowers in Need ACCION USA, a leader and innovator in U.S. microfinance since 1991, has teamed up with Kiva.org to connect U.S. entrepreneurs seeking small business loans with individual lenders, through Kiva’s person-to-person online lending platform. Check out ACCION USA’s blog for more details on this exciting new partnership. Exposing the Roots of Inequality – the Human Opportunity Index The World Bank’s recently published “Human Opportunity Index” (HOI) offers a unique framework for examining the root causes of inequality. Focusing specifically on children and opportunity, the HOI identifies those circumstances outside a child’s control – e.g., race, parents’ level of education, access to electricity or clean water – that can determine a child’s economic future. Learn more about the HOI and how microfinance can improve a child’s economic outlook here. https://www.accion.org/Page.aspx?pid=1666 Investments in Microfinance: Surviving the Liquidity Crisis and Ensuring Sustainable Growth. London, July 7–9, 2009. Elisabeth Rhyne, managing director, Center for Financial Inclusion at ACCION International, speaker. 4th African Microfinance Conference. Ouagadougou, Burkino Faso, July 7–10, 2009. Brian Kuwik, vice president and program manager, Africa, ACCION International, speaker. The Investment Opportunity for Pensions, Endowments, Foundations & Social Investors Summit. Washington, D.C., July 13–14, 2009. Monica Brand, principal director, Frontier Investments Group, ACCION International, speaker. View all events Did you know... Donations totaling just $500 can help provide a loan to a vegetable oil vendor in Nigeria, to enable her to jump-start her microenterprise selling vegetable oil and increase her income. Your gift helps put women like Alhaja Falolu Afusat (pictured above) on the path to a brighter future. Give today! Microfinance – Bearing Fruit in Bolivia Selling goods at the Abastos Market in Santa Cruz, Bolivia is a highly competitive endeavor and not for the faint of heart. With just one look at sisters Eva, Abelina and Jesusa Chiri – perched atop a heap of pineapples in the back of a forty foot rig – it’s clear that they mean business. Read the full story... ACCION International is a private, nonprofit organization with the mission of giving people the financial tools they need – microloans, business training and other financial services – to work their way out of poverty. A world pioneer in microfinance, ACCION issued its first microloan in 1973 in Brazil . Today, ACCION’s partner microfinance institutions serve more than 3.7 million poor entrepreneurs per year in 23 countries in Latin America, Asia, Africa and the United States .