Welcome to the University of Pennsylvania's Microfinance Club
Resources
Internships:
Click here for information on internship opportunities.
Books:
The Economics of Microfinance
by Morduch, Jonathan and Beatriz Armendariz de Aghion
The Microfinance Revolution: Sustainable Finance for the Poor
by Marguerite Robinson
Microfinance Handbook: An Institutional and Financial Perspective
by Joanna Ledgerwood
Banker to the Poor
by Mohammad Yunus, Founder of Grameen Microfinance
The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty through Profits
by C.K. Prahalad
The End of Poverty
by Jeffrey Sachs
Websites:
The Financial Access Initiative is a consortium of leading development economists focused on substantially expanding access to quality financial services for low-income individuals.
Microfinance Management Institute
The Microfinance Management Institute (MFMI) serves all those in the developing world who are working to build inclusive financial systems for the poor.
Jobs. Internships. Conferences. Training.
Jobs. Very detailed country-by-country profiles (good for research). News. Resource centers for regulation, technology, savings and others.
Planet Microfinance University
Various courses, from the basics to advanced accounting.
United Nations Distance Learning Course
An introduction to microfinance, including beginning accounting methods.
About Microfinance
Microfinance is an effective means to poverty alleviation. Research showed that in Bangladesh microfinance helps poor, loan-borrowing persons pull themselves above the poverty line at a rate of 48%. Those who didn’t borrow escaped poverty at a rate of only 4%.
The industry’s primary agent is the microcredit loan, a small but usefully-sized loan given to a group of poor entrepreneurs. With access to credit, these poor persons can purchase productive business capital and with it start family-run businesses, thereby generating greater incomes. Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) most usually target women.
Many MFIs serve multiple social missions, including gender equality, health education, access to healthcare and sustainable development. In recent years, the profitability of these institutions has become a top priority, as not-for-profit MFIs often must lend at higher interest rates.