woman

Germany – Do Borrowers on Smava Differ From the Average Population?

wiseclerk

A new study of the DIW Berlin (see page 3-9) (authors: Nataliya Barasinska, Nicola Jentzsch und Dorothea Schäfer) has analysed Smava loan data from the years 2007 to 2011 and found out that people who use p2p lending Smava for borrowing resemble the average population using conventional bank loans. Against expectations there was no major difference in age structure:

Regarding gender there is a gap, 28% of Smava borrowers are female; whereis in the comparison group 40% of borrowers are female. Regional distribution of borrower residence did not differ from average population. Continue reading →

Inuka Launch – P2P Microfinance For Female Owned Businesses in Africa

wiseclerk

Two weeks ago Inuka.org launched into public beta. Inuka’s initial focus will begin in East Africa, where it has partnered with several microfinance Institutions that will be responsible for sourcing loans, uploading them on Inuka’s online portal, performing credit reviews on potential borrowers and collecting repayments. Inuka has selected two microfinance partners in East Africa after a detailed on-site due diligence process.

Lenders do not earn interest on loans financed. Asked what differentiates Inuka from other p2p microfinance services like Kiva, Babyloan or MYC4, founder Kanini Mutooni told P2P-Banking.com:

– We only lend to female entrepreneurs in sub-saharan Africa which means were very much focused on a niche sector rather than just lending to anyone
– Our loans are interest free which means that there is more of a philanthropic social element in lending as opposed to MYC4…

When I looked today, there were 11 loan request from Kenya online.

Changing the World Through Crowdfunding

Kanini Mutooni

Although women play a major role in the economic development of emerging economies, they have the least access to capital and credit compared to their male counterparts. Giving more credit to women has been mooted as one of the fastest ways to reduce poverty in emerging economies. The virtues of female entrepreneurship have been extolled over the last few years although a lot still needs to be done to make this a reality: without capital or credit entrepreneurship is hardly possible so this means that solutions need to be found that enhance this capacity rather than talk about it and do nothing about it.

Crowd funding is definitely one of the solutions that could be put forward that could increase the likelihood of increasing available capital to women. Crowd funding in this sense refers to the process of providing small loans to female owned businesses which enables them to expand and grow their businesses. This also means that they reinvest the proceeds of their business into the nutrition and education of their families which results in an increase in the quality of life of their society and community. This correlation has been supported by evidence from the World Bank and IFC stating that women reinvest 90% of their profits in the home whilst mean reinvest only 60-70%. Continue reading →